The Luck of Ronan Spire
by Brackenfrond
Summary: Ronan Spire, blessed with the power of luck, is ironically very unlucky. Pulled into a mission to save the world by SHIELD, that he didn't want to be involved with, he makes some friends, and sees the pseudo god that tried to sort of kill Thor a year ago. Trying to prove that Loki isn't taking over the world for shits and giggles? Not part of the not-a-plan. NOW WITH TDW!
1. Of Super Soldiers and Secret Agents

'Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.' ~ Dalai Lama  
XoooX

Ronan Spire should be lucky.

It had been what his mother had told him before she died. That he was lucky, born under the star sign of Leo - a lion. Brave, courageous, always willing to take risks and, supposedly, born into good fortune.

So far, Ronan had doubted that.

His supposed 'luck' failed when his mother caught an illness and never recovered, dying when Ronan was ten. He grieved, of course he did - he loved his mother. He'd always felt that he could have done more - he was lucky, he could have used that and saved her.

Everything sort of went downhill from that point on.

His father was a good man and he tried to go on, to help them remain comfortable. He had a low income, though, and Ronan had been getting lower and lower grades, his self esteem had shattered a few months after his mother's death. He found it hard to make friends, finding comfort in technology and books and his father wasn't at home enough to console him. One would think all the reading would help with his grades - as if. No, he preferred fiction, imagining that he was one of the heroes, off to save the world. Not stuck in a small flat in the middle of New Mexico.

He left home at the age of eighteen. Two years later, his life turned upside down.

A hammer had fallen to earth, wedged in a rock, like some Arthurian legend style deal. Mostly because no one could lift it. Even Ronan had tried and he could've sworn it wobbled, just a fraction, but it was probably wishful thinking because God, that thing was heavier than anything he had ever tried to lift in his life.

Of course, then some secret government organisation had closed off the perimeter to investigate it and, of course, Ronan had been caught up with the idiot who decided to bust in.

Ronan liked Jane Foster. She was intelligent and pretty and didn't question him too much. She helped his confidence and, although she obviously wasn't interested in him, she helped him a lot.

Then there was Thor, who made Ronan question his previous 'one hundred percent heterosexual' status because God, he was attractive. Also, being around him made him dangerous because he was an 'Asgardian'. Norse mythology, which Ronan had read about. Last time he checked, it didn't include robots that shot fire and destroyed towns.

A few weeks after that incident, Ronan had decided he wouldn't have anything to do with pseudo gods or secret governments or items of unknown power. Just no.

Luck was most definitely not on his side.

XoooX

"I am reconsidering the entirety of my life choices right...now." Ronan muttered to himself, shielding his eyes from the sun as he stepped out of the helicopter. The man who was there looked sympathetic - the woman looked amused.

"Agent Romanoff. You must be Ronan Spire." She offered a hand which Ronan took, shaking it. Common courtesy, after all.

"That would be me - why I am here though...that remains a mystery."

"SHIELD has information on you." Romanoff sounded slightly too smug. "Blood samples and lists of past incidents. You have the X gene - you're a very lucky man, Mr Spire."

"If you have my files then you know that I most certainly am not lucky." Ronan retorted, before turning to the blonde man, who had been watching the conversation intently. "Sorry - Ronan Spire."

"Steve Rogers." He sounded slightly bewildered and, oh yeah, Steve Rogers was Captain America. "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine. I...uh...grew up reading the comics." Ronan felt his ears grow hot with embarrassment. "Helped me get through a hard time so…" He shrugged awkwardly. Captain America - no, wait, Steve - looked just as awkward.

"Um...thank you?"

"This is really touching, boys, but I should introduce you to Doctor Banner." Romanoff smirked and the man who had joined them, with salt and pepper hair and glasses, started slightly. "Doctor Banner, this is Captain Steve Rogers and Ronan Spire."

"Hi." Ronan offered a smile in greeting as Steve and Banner shook hands.

"Word is you know how to find the tesseract."

"...That the only 'word' you heard?"

"Only one I care about." Ronan was confused - had they been given files or something?

"Was I not given a file for a specific reason?" Ronan had to ask. Romanoff shrugged.

"You haven't been actively involved with SHIELD."

"And yet here I am." Ronan muttered. He was pretty sure the muffled noise he heard from Banner was a laugh. Not a mocking one, Ronan thought, but one that meant he appreciated the fact that there was some irony in the whole situation. "Sorry for having no clue who you are."

"It's fine. Bruce." Banner - well, Bruce - offered a hand and Ronan shook it. "I got files, but there wasn't much information on you."

"'Cause I was a friend of Jane Foster, so I got slightly involved with the incident down in New Mexico." Ronan shrugged. "SHIELD meddle in everything. Can't get them to leave you alone once they get their teeth into you."

"I can hear you, you know." Romanoff pointed out. Ronan ignored her. "Gentlemen, I suggest we move this inside - it's...going to get difficult to breathe in a minute."

"That doesn't sound ominous at all." Ronan said, and frowned as Bruce turned dramatically pale. "You ok, Doc?"

"I feel quite ill, actually." He said in reply, and he looked ill. Romanoff frowned in concern.

"Inside." She said, and Bruce and Steve eagerly followed. "Spire!"

"Holy shit, do you have propellers on this thing?" Ronan had raced to the edge of the aircraft carrier, looking down with wide eyes. He could feel excitement coursing through his veins. This was like in his childhood daydreams and fantasies. "It's a flying machine! Oh my God, this is the best day ever!" He was well aware that he sounded like an excited five year old. He didn't care. "How much does it hold? Oh my God, oh my God!"

"You can fanboy inside, Ronan." Ronan jumped to attention when Romanoff used his first name. Her eyes were sparkling with amusement. "But seriously, it's going to get hard to breathe in a minute. Besides, the inside is much better."

At that, Ronan jogged over to the rest of them, still bouncing slightly in excitement.

"What's this called? I can't refer to it as a flying machine."

"It's called a helicarrier." Romanoff said. "And this is where SHIELD conducts most of their work."

"So like a secret hideout?" Ronan asked. "This is like all the books I used to read!"

"I thought you were regretting your life choices?" Steve had to ask, voice tinged with laughter. Bruce tried to hide a snort. Ronan waved a hand.

"That was before the aircraft carrier began to fly."

"It can also turn invisible." Another agent had appeared - older than Romanoff, with a pristine suit.

Ronan made a dying noise at the mention of invisibility. Romanoff let out a laugh.

"Careful, Phil. Spire might pass out if he gets over excited."

"I'm sure he is made of stronger stuff." Phil managed a smile. "Natasha, Fury wants to speak to you. And these three."

"Of course." Natasha nodded. "I was going to take them there, anyway. Better to understand where we are in our search now rather than later."

"...Search?" Ronan asked, raising an eyebrow. "What...what are you searching for?"

"It's...a long story." Natasha admitted.

"And it's more of a who. Not a what." Phil added. "I'll explain."

XoooX

Apparently, another pseudo god wanted to take over the world.

Brilliant.

"There was a reason I didn't want to get involved with this." Ronan stated to Phil and Steve. Natasha had left with Bruce to show him the labs. "Because the last time I dealt with a pseudo god, I almost got toasted by a mechanical man."

"You nearly what?" Steve's eyebrows had risen high up his forehead in shock. Ronan hummed.

"Long story. New Mexico. Magical hammer. Phil was there and stole all of Jane's research." Ronan said. Phil sighed.

"We didn't steal it." He said.

"Felt like stealing." Ronan retorted. Steve looked very confused and Ronan really couldn't blame him. If he hadn't been there himself, he would be just as confused as the super soldier. "So. Another pseudo god."

"They're called Asgardians." Phil said. Ronan sighed.

"I don't really care. I want to go back to my crappy apartment. But I suppose helping save the world would probably be a good idea." Ronan ran a hand through his dark hair. "Any sign of him?"

"Not yet." Phil said, leading them over to a set of computers that Ronan suspected were collected to satellites. "We're running a face recognition programme here. With your luck, maybe we'll catch him quicker." Ronan snorted.

"It doesn't work like that - I can't control it. My luck has a mind of it's own."

"For your well being. When you were seven, you were hit by a car - you should have had broken bones, internal injuries. Instead -"

"- I had bruised ribs. A mild concussion." Ronan finished for him, and he sounded tired. "The doctors said I was 'very lucky to not be any worse'." He rolled his eyes. "So?"

"So, it would be in your best interests to find them - find Loki - so he doesn't take over the world." Phil stated. Steve shrugged.

"Sounds like a good plan." Ronan was pretty sure Phil stood up a bit straighter at that. Looked happy. An agent as a fanboy? Who would have thought it?

"Well, it doesn -" Ronan was cut off by someone announcing that they had a match. Phil made his way over, nodding.

"We've got him. Might want to suit up - you're off to Germany."

Ronan cursed.

Sometimes, he absolutely hated his lucky power.

XoOoX

Hi there!

I keep making new fics instead of updating existing ones, but this one...I've had the idea for this for months and needed to get it out.

Hopefully, Ronan is much more original than the typical 'seventh Avenger', and gains more love as I write this.

Read, review and all that jazz! ~ Jazz xx


	2. Of Metal Men and Asgardian Gods

Ronan didn't like Germany.

Nothing against the country itself, except from, you know, the world wars, but he just didn't understand why Germany would appeal to anyone travelling to Europe. There was Paris and Athens and Rome and anywhere else. He didn't understand what appeal Germany held. Because, to him, it was just...well, boring.

Why couldn't Loki show up in Venice? He'd never been to Venice.

To be completely honest, Ronan had never been to Stuttgart either, but Venice just sounded much more appealing.

Despite not going into the field and being an active participant (he was literally sitting in the jet, a lucky charm which, ow, hurtful) he had been forced into SHIELD issued uniform. He missed his jeans and converse, worn as they were, and was now wearing black trousers, military boots, a black T-shirt with a bulletproof vest.

He felt stupid. He probably also looked stupid.

Fortunately, no one protested to him pulling his hoodie on over said shirt and vest, so at least he felt a bit more normal, a bit warmer.

Natasha was wearing her standard issue uniform and looked absolutely stunning. As usual. At least Ronan wasn't wearing the stars and stripes like Steve was.

But, then again, Steve actually looked like the superheroes Ronan read about in comics. Ronan...well, he definitely didn't. He also wasn't a superhero, which was probably also why Ronan felt so ridiculously out of place.

It was Steve who made the first dramatic entrance, jumping out of the plane without a fucking parachute and protecting one of the civilians from a blast from Loki's staff.

Ronan found himself scrambling to the front of the plane, ignoring Natasha's hiss of 'stay back' to get a better view of the situation.

His eyes, of course, locked on the so-called god first.

He was more slender than Thor had been, less visibly muscular and just looked smaller, though it did not detract from how opposing he was. He made the hair on Ronan's neck stand up.

Although...he didn't look healthy. Whereas Thor was all golden skin and well groomed, this man looked too pale. He looked...mad. Desperate. Despite the fact he had once stood in front on the crowd, speaking of ruling them, of controlling them, Ronan felt a stirring in his gut. A stirring that told him something was wrong with this picture. He wasn't sure what but...something.

He almost didn't notice the blast aimed towards the jet, but he managed to grab hold of something as they jerked to the left, avoiding the blast, and that was when Steve attacked.

The crowd screamed, running out of the way of two men who were more than just men went head to head, fighting each other with all they had. Ronan's eyes followed them, their twists and turns and how they could make a fight look almost elegant.

"Damn, they're all over the place." Natasha muttered, trying to get a clear aim. She would fail to, Ronan knew that, even without the comment. They were too far away, and the two on the ground were moving too much, too fast

When AC/DC began to play over the speaker system, and a man's voice spoke, Ronan was blown back.

"Agent Romanoff - you miss me?"

"Is that Tony Stark?" Ronan managed to hiss to Natasha. She may have snorted.

"The one and only." She said in response, as a streak of golden light appeared in the sky, signalling the arrival of the one and only Iron Man.

After that, it didn't take too long for Loki to surrender.

XoooX

Ronan was a huge fan of Tony Stark.

He liked his tech, how clever he was. Ronan was clever, but not with technology - he knew about science, read up on the stuff that interested him, but the technical jargon that some people could spout off just went right over his head. His hands were clever, though, and he could pick up things quickly. He could fix car engines and such, having helped Jane with her truck multiple times, but Stark...he was on a whole new level.

The arc reactor was the main thing that had Ronan blown away - a clean source of energy, that powered the Iron Man suit and, more recently, Stark Tower in New York. Then there was the way he stopped making nuclear weapons, focused more so on phones and tablets and stuff that couldn't destroy cities and kill civilians.

Ronan looked deceptively calm when Steve and Tony forced Loki into the jet, when Natasha got ready for flight again, when Tony and Steve remove their masks. Inside, he felt rather sick.

At least he didn't look like he was going to throw up.

Loki wasn't really looking at anyone when he sat down, which was a relief for Ronan. He didn't want to look at Loki's face, try and read him - he looked ill, sick, and it made Ronan uncomfortable.

"You must be Ronan Spire!" Tony's voice made Ronan almost jump out of his skin. He turned to look at the billionaire, who offered him a hand. "Afraid I don't know too much about you - your file is surprisingly small, considering it is SHIELD."

"I...uh...is that a good thing?" Ronan realised his voice had raised in pitch, and hastily coughed. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's fine." Tony waved a metal covered hand, completely unconcerned. "How did you manage to avoid them finding much on you?"

"Probably because I'm not that interesting." Ronan managed to answer. "Seriously. I grew up in a pretty average household. I just happened to become friends with Jane Foster and have the X-gene."

"Ah, yes. The lucky charm." Tony recalled and Ronan's nose wrinkled in distaste. The lucky charm - that was all he was here for, really. "No wonder Fury got you roped in."

"I wasn't too willing." Ronan said.

"Then he saw the helicarrier fly and turn invisible." Steve said and Tony let out a laugh. Ronan felt himself turn red.

"It was cool." He said in defense. Tony grinned at him.

"I like you, kid."

"I'm not a kid." Ronan huffed, folding his arms. He heard Natasha snort in amusement.

There was silence for a while, Ronan leaning against the side of the jet with his arms crossed across his chest. He was well aware that he looked much less imposing than literally everyone else gathered, and he felt...out of place. He wasn't supposed to be muscle, though, he was supposed to be a lucky charm. As usual.

It was Steve who broke the silence first.

"This is too easy."

"What, that he gave up so easily?" Tony jerked his head in the direction of Loki. The God gave him a withering look. "Maybe it's because we have Lucky Charms on our side."

"If one more person gives me a nickname after a brand of cereal, I swear to God I will actually shoot you." Ronan groused. "For the sake of all that is holy -"

Ronan was cut off by the sound of rumbling thunder.

Tony and Steve didn't look bothered, Natasha kept flying but Loki...Loki looked up to the roof of the plane, his entire posture radiating nervousness. Ronan would have thought he was afraid of lightning, if he hadn't met Thor a year ago.

"Scared?" Steve had to ask.

"Not particularly fond of what follows." Loki responded and Ronan groaned.

"There was a fucking reason I didn't want to get involved." He muttered. He was relieved that he was against the wall when something shook the entire jet. The hatch opened and a man landed in the opening, silhouetted against a stormy sky. Ronan sighed. "Hello, Thor."

Thor, who had made a direct line for Loki, paused at Ronan's voice. All eyes turned on Ronan and he suddenly felt very self conscious.

"Ronan Spire!" Thor's voice was booming, just like Ronan remembered, and a beam lit up his face. The hatch closed again. Loki glared at the door as though it had betrayed him. "It is good to see you, my friend!"

"Can you stop the storm? Like, please?" Ronan asked. "I'm not good with planes as it is. Never mind flying through a thunderstorm."

"Apologies." The rain and thunder ceased, and Ronan let out a relieved sigh.

"You...know each other?" Steve sounded very confused. Ronan didn't blame him.

"Last year my friend Jane hit him with her truck." Ronan explained and Tony let out a bark of laughter. "This is Thor. Thor, this is Steve Rogers, Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff." Thor nodded, before turning to Ronan.

"How is Jane?"

"I think she's doing something in London. She got all her science stuff back anyway." Ronan shrugged a shoulder. "She misses you. She might hit you when you see her next. Possibly not with her truck this time." He heard Loki mutter something under his breath - probably something insulting. Ronan didn't pay him much attention. "Say, do you want to join our super secret boyband?"

"...Boyband?"

"Well, plus a girl." Ronan grinned. "Apparently we have to save the world. Or something."

"Ronan, do you really think this is a good idea?" Steve spoke up. He at least sounded faintly amused. Ronan didn't need to think his answer through.

"It's Thor." He said. "He is one of the purest people I have ever met. He made me breakfast, Steve. You have never made me breakfast."

"I have known you for a few hours." Steve pointed out. Tony looked like he was struggling not to laugh.

"And yet I am placing the leadership of our mismatched team in your hands. Thor is going to join - right?" Ronan turned to Thor, and was startled to see him smiling at him, completely fond.

"Since you insist, I suppose I shall."

XoOoX

Chapter 3 shall include much more Loki. And more of Ronan's backstory, so there is that to look forward to.

Not ridiculously happy with this, but I need to get the story moving before I reach points where things really take a turn from the film plot. Which will happen next chapter.

Read, review and all that jazz! ~ Jazz xx


	3. Of Questions and Developments

When Ronan was five, he sat next to a girl with skin the colour of the way his dad took his tea, long curly dark brown hair and scraped knees and elbows.

She was taller than him, and normally went home with bloody palms from playing much more physical games than Ronan had considered reasonable.

She also wanted to be his friend, which was a novelty for Ronan. He didn't even know her name, and she wasn't someone who looked like someone who Ronan would get along with.

"Never judge someone from what strikes you first." His mother had told him, when Ronan had spoken of her bloody knees and cut chin. "She may be kind, my dear, and you could use more friends."

Marie had grown to be one of his closest friends, until she moved away when he was nine. They still kept in contact, through text and e-mail and phone calls.

His mother's advice had always been useful in Ronan's life, and that is why he took it in account when he watched Loki through the monitor, ignoring his arrogant stance and toothy grin and the unimpressed look in his eyes.

Instead, he looked at his pale skin and the sweat beading on his brow. On the dark circles around his eyes. Because Ronan knew that, no matter how arrogant he acted, those things Loki could not hide.

Ronan was mostly unimpressed by the speech Loki was making, though - he'd read this stuff, watched it in movies. He tried to analyse the words, though, tried to make sense of it all, but he was coming up flat.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce was the first to speak after the transmission ended. Ronan sighed, leaning back in his chair and stretching out.

"Heard worse." He said, ignoring the looks. "Does anyone else think the picture that was painted seems...off, though?"

"My brother...changed after I went to Earth." Thor said, and Natasha raised an eyebrow at Ronan's words. Apparently not, then. Ronan slumped down slightly. "He has an army - the Chitauri."

"Oh, well, that's brilliant." Ronan muttered. "A fucking army from outer space. Wonderful."

"He'll need another portal to get them through." Bruce murmured, fiddling with his glasses. Almost nervous. "That's why he has Selvig."

"Selvig?" Ronan and Thor questioned together and Bruce nodded.

"The astrophysicist."

"You must have the wrong astrophysicist." Ronan said, and he was aware that he sounded slightly hysterical. "Selvig - Erik - he would never -"

"He's a friend." Thor said, cutting through Ronan's babble and he felt a rush of gratitude towards the Asgardian for that.

"Loki has him under some sort of compulsion. Along with one of our men." Natasha explained, running a hand through her hair.

"What I want to know is why Loki let us take him." Steve said. "I mean, he can't lead an army from in here."

"A ploy?" Ronan shrugged a shoulder. "In mythology, Loki is said to be a trickster god. There's stuff about him escaping his bonds during the end of the world, shit like that. I don't know - he's said to be playful, helpful when needed blah blah blah. One thing for sure is that he's a schemer. He's clever - there's definitely a plan behind this. I just don't know what it is."

"Not just brought in for luck." Ronan tilted his head back to grin at Tony who had just entered the room, dressed in a suit. "You know your stuff, don't you kid?"

"I'm not a kid." Ronan said. "But thank you. I try."

"Anyway, I don't think we should be focusing on Loki." Bruce said. "If Ronan is right in believing that something is off, we should focus on what he is getting. Starting with the iridium."

"It's a stabilising agent." Tony answered almost immediately and soon he and Bruce were firing theories and scientific jargon at each other. Ronan caught Steve's eye and the super soldier pulled a face. It took a lot of restraint not to laugh. "It's so the portal won't collapse on itself again, and also so Loki can open it as wide as he wants, for however long he feels like."

"This sounds brilliant." Ronan sighed heavily. "So basically he is bringing a giant space army through a portal which he doesn't have to close unless he feels like it?"

"Not exactly." Bruce said. "He needs an energy source, something powerful enough to break through the Coulomb barrier."

"The what now?"

"Unless their scientist has managed to figure out how to stabilise the quantum tunneling effect." Tony pointed out.

"If he could do that, it is possible that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet." Bruce responded. Steve and Ronan exchanged confused looks as Tony beamed, making his way over to shake Bruce's hand in greeting.

"Pleasure to meet you, Doctor Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. I'm also a fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"I -"

"Wait. Hold up. Green rage monster?" Ronan cut off Bruce's response and immediately noticed how the mild mannered scientist stiffened. "Seriously, you're the Hulk? The 'dangerous criminal who is capable of destroying New York'? You?"

"Is that going to be a problem?" Steve now sounded rather angry, and Ronan actually snorted loudly.

"God, no. Just - seriously? You don't look like someone who would destroy New York. Also why does no one tell me this stuff?" Ronan asked, giving Natasha a look. Natasha raised one eyebrow and Ronan immediately turned his gaze away from her because, ok, that was scary. "But it's no problem. Seriously." He offered Bruce a smile and the doctor returned it, although it was much more hesitant than Ronan's.

"It shouldn't be a problem because Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube." Fury's arrival startled Ronan - he decided he hated spies. They were too quiet. "And we have another job for you."

"Because I have been put through my paces already - standing around is so very taxing." Ronan muttered and Bruce made a sound that sounded like he was choking. Trying not to laugh, probably. "Hit me."

"We believe that it would be best if you were the one to talk to Loki." Fury said and Ronan felt his blood run cold. "With your lucky ability, we may be able to find out his plan earlier."

"Woah, hold up - You want the kid to talk to the mass murderer pseudo God?" Tony was the one who spoke up, one eyebrow raised. And did he sound...worried? Huh. That was new.

"It will be perfectly safe, Stark." Fury's eyes narrowed. "Loki is contained and we have surveillance of the area."

"I don't thi-"

"I'll do it." Ronan stopped Steve mid word. His hands shook slightly, and he clenched them into fists to hide it. "If it will retrieve the magic cube and stop aliens from invading or something, I'll do it."

Fury didn't smile, just nodded. He was aware that Tony was frowning, Steve was wide eyed and Bruce was gnawing on his lower lip.

These three men - who he hadn't even known for a whole day - were concerned. And somehow, that made the idea of walking into a room with a man who believed himself to be a god.

XoooX

Ronan was led down to where Loki was being held by Coulson. The older man was tense, shoulders stiff, and when they reached the door, he reached out with a hand as though to touch Ronan's shoulder but retracted it.

"This man…" Phil bit his lip. Ronan tilted his head, raising his eyebrows in a go on sort of gesture. "He is dangerous. Just...be careful."

"I never knew you cared." Ronan grinned. Phil smiled, slightly reserved.

"You're a good man. He...is anything but good."

"There is something wrong with him, Phil." Ronan replied. He was going to tell this man, who looked at Steve in awe and liked Ronan in a matter of hours. He may have stolen Jane's equipment last year, but she had got it back, and he had moved her to safety. "Don't tell Fury, but...well I always loved a good mystery."

"This isn't a game or a book, Ronan. This is your life."

"Good thing my life isn't worth much - wish me luck." Ronan strode through the doors, missing the stunned look Phil gave him at his comment.

Loki had his back to the door when Ronan entered, and he took the time to observe the man while he could.

His frame was slender, but not weak - it could be seen as such, but Ronan knew Asgardians, and knew that Loki would be stronger than he appeared. He was standing straight, head tilted up slightly, looking as regal as one could when imprisoned. Ronan knew he could use magic and wondered if the cage prevented that from working. He frowned at the thought - it seemed unnatural.

"It is rude to stare." Ronan was startled out of his thoughts when Loki spoke. He sounded disdainful, and he still hadn't turned. "Why is it that all Midgardians are so rude?"

"Keeps us interesting, doesn't it?" Ronan retorted quickly, moving around so he was in Loki's line of sight. The man snorted.

"This is the best they have? You?"

"And you said I was rude." Ronan rolled his eyes. "Don't underestimate someone just because they aren't a genius or have muscles on their muscles." Ronan made a point of scanning Loki with his eyes. "I mean, you don't look like much, but i have seen what you can do - illusions. Hand to hand. You're stronger than you look."

"And, apparently, you have stranger blood than others." Loki had leaned forward slightly, his interest obvious. "Something to do with luck?"

"Ah, yes, the lucky charm." Ronan rolled his eyes. Once again, his luck was the topic of choice. "If we're having this talk, we're sitting down." And Ronan did, crossing his legs and looking up imploringly at a bemused Loki. "Well?"

Looking mildly amused, the man mimicked Ronan's position and Ronan laughed internally as he imagined the look on Fury's face.

"I am only doing this to hear more about your blood." Loki informed him, and Ronan was pretty sure his amusement was clear in his eyes.

"Of course." Ronan replied. "My mother carried a gene - called the x gene - which is, like, an advanced gene that is like the next stage in evolution. I think. Science bored me, especially biology, so this is literally me winging it."

"'Winging it'?"

"Making it up as I go." Ronan clarified. "So I have this gene and it gave me the power of luck. Although it doesn't work a lot."

"And yet here I am." Loki stated. "How...lucky?"

"For who?" Ronan asked. Loki remained silent for a while, thoughtful.

"You...did not wish for this to happen?"

"I didn't want to be here. But SHIELD is annoying except from, like, Phil and the others they dragged in. Tony, Steve, Bruce - they're good. Your brother." Loki's demeanour changed from calm to bitter, lip curling.

"He is not my brother." He snarled. Ronan didn't flinch. There was a barrier between them, that would keep him safe...hopefully. "I don't care what he has told you, he is not my family."

"By blood. But by choice…" Ronan shrugged, getting to his feet. "I would love to have someone who would look at me and wish I was their son, or brother. Don't take Thor calling you his brother as an insult, or as stupidity - he is anything but. He loves you, whether you believe it or not." Loki hadn't risen from his seat, just looking at Ronan with a mix of anger and - possibly - confusion. "I'll be back." Ronan's lips twitched at the unintended reference, before he turned and left.

He could feel Loki's eyes boring into him until he left the room.

XoooX

"Is Fury out of his mind?" Ronan paused outside of the lab when he heard Tony's voice. "The kid is just a kid!"

"He isn't a kid." Bruce's voice was soothing compared to Tony's angry one . "But I don't agree with his idea, so don't give me that look." Ronan heard Tony sigh, the sound of something placed on a table.

"I don't like this." Tony's voice had quietened, the frown evident in his voice. "There is something...more going on here."

"Ronan agrees with you." Bruce said. "Although I think you mean more than just Loki."

"Honestly, I think the not-god is just insane. No, something about the cube." Tony replied. "I planted a bug and JARVIS is in. Soon enough, we'll have all of SHIELD's secrets and we can figure out why Fury needs the cube, because he was definitely using it for something. I also have access to any security footage so I can keep an eye on the kid and Loki."

"I am not a kid." Ronan decided to make his presence known, stepping into the lab, and Tony and Bruce turned to look at him. "And I can take care of myself."

"We know you can." Bruce attempted to placate him. "But Loki isn't just a man."

"He is also trapped in a reinforced prison. I think I'm pretty safe." Ronan shrugged. "How's the search going?"

He almost regretted asking as the two scientists began to explain how they were tracking the Tesseract down, using scientific jargon that Ronan couldn't make heads or tails of. He nodded along, humming in what he hoped was all the right places, until Tony broke off with a laugh.

"You have no idea what we're saying, do you?"

"I'm sorry I'm not a genius." Ronan rolled his eyes and Bruce disguised his snort as a cough. "I wasn't actually supposed to stop here - I was trying to find Thor. Do you know where he is?"

"I'd try the control room." Bruce offered. "He was there last time I checked."

"Thanks. I'll check in on you soon - if that's not a problem?"

"You're no bother." Tony waved a hand absently. "See you."

"Bye." Ronan headed out of the lab and to where he thought the control room was, passing agents who looked professional and so unlike him. They didn't regard him, which sat wrong with Ronan, but he shook it off.

When he reached the control room, it was easy to spot Thor, still in his armour, staring out of the window and at the clouds. Ronan joined him and Thor nodded in acknowledgement.

"It is amazing what you Midgardian's can create." Thor mused. "You have little magic, if any, and yet you can create all of this."

"One thing about humans is that we are stubborn as hell. If we want something, a little thing such as impossibility isn't going to stop us." Ronan shoved his hands in his pockets. "We create and if we mess up, we look at where we went wrong and try to make it better."

"I doubt you came here to talk to me about Midgardians, my friend."

"No. I came here to talk to you about Loki." That garnered Thor's full attention, turning to face Ronan. "What was he like? On Asgard?"

"He was clever. Intelligent." Thor said, sounding reminiscent. "He didn't really fit in with the rest of us - his talent lay with his tricks and his silver tongue. He spent hours in the library where we spent it outside."

"How much of the legends are true?" Ronan had to ask. "The sewing his mouth shut? His children?"

"Sewing his mouth shut?!" Thor sounded stunned at the mere thought. "If that did happen, I have no knowledge of it. His children though...he has four."

"Hel, Fenrir, Sleipnir and Jormungandr, right?" Ronan hazarded and Thor nodded.

"Yes. He sees none of them - they live on different realms. Why do you ask?"

"I'm supposed to figure out his plan or something." Ronan shrugged. "Knowing him...it should help. He likes books, did you say?"

"Yes. Why?"

"A point of discussion for our next talk." Ronan offered a smile to Thor. "I'll help him. Not for him, but for you."

"If anyone can," Thor sighed. "It's you."

Ronan wondered why he put so much faith in his abilities, when he had little faith in them himself.

XoOoX

I'm really iffy about this chapter but I really wanted to get something out for you guys.  
Please, please tell me if Loki sounds in character - some of the later stuff I scribbled down works but I am not as confident this chapter.  
Thanks! ~ Jazz xx


	4. Of Reading and Secrets

A few days passed by relatively peacefully.

Ronan had been tasked with giving Loki food, because apparently he was the only one whom had permission to visit the man. It sounded very sad. Ronan would hate seeing only one person for days on end.

Steve and Natasha had ganged up on him and ended up roping him into basic hand to hand and weapons training, all of which ended up with Ronan tired and banged up. He had showed his bruises off to Loki during their talks, ranting about how talented they were but 'could they show a little pity - I'm a scholar, not a soldier!'

Bruce and Tony were more Ronan's field. They were much more reserved and less physical than Steve and Natasha, and had recently taken to explaining the science behind what they were doing. Ronan had absently mentioned his ability to fix engines and Tony had immediately taken him under his wing, explaining the components of the Iron Man suit. He had also gifted Ronan with a Stark Phone after seeing Ronan's ancient flip one and nearly having a heart attack, which was definitely over dramatic. Where Tony was all flash and over the top, Bruce was calm and quiet, and Ronan liked sitting with him and talking about mundane things while the scientist fiddled with settings on how they were tracking the Tesseract. Ronan normally ended up disappearing whenever the two were talking to each other, though - babbling about scientific nonsense he didn't understand, lost in their own little world. He wondered if he was imagining the attraction there, two brilliant minds meeting. Tony was in a relationship, and Ronan knew that, but still, there was something there.

Ronan had taken time to introduce Thor to some of the things Jane hadn't - mostly computer games. And by that, he meant Candy Crush. He had successfully gotten the Asgardian addicted to it, and Ronan often found him on a phone, frowning in concentration. It was honestly hilarious.

Ronan and Fury didn't talk. At all. Their communication consisted of looks and glares from across the room, which suited Ronan just fine. Fury obviously didn't like him, and the feeling was mutual.

The reason Fury disliked him was probably due to the fact that, instead of interrogating Loki, Ronan was just talking to him. Fury was a spy, and spies were good at manipulating people, coercing them into doing things without their knowledge.

Contrary to Fury's possible belief, Ronan had never trained to be a spy.

He could read people though, could see when pieces didn't slot together right. He'd convinced Phil to give him access to footage of when Loki had first come through the portal and noted the dark rings around his eyes, the pale skin, the sweat beading his forehead and the disorientation, mild as it was. The Asgardian just looked unhealthy and malnourished, like he hadn't been treated well, like...like he had been imprisoned by unkind captors and Ronan didn't want to dwell on those sort of thoughts.

So, instead of questioning Loki, Ronan had rummaged through his belongings, grabbed a battered, worn, well loved copy of The Philosopher's Stone, and made his way down to the room where he was kept, and read to him. It was odd at first, especially at the look Loki had given him the first time he had done so, but soon it felt normal and comforting. Ronan found peace in repeating the oh so familiar words, answering Loki's questions and arguing about favourite characters and plot holes.

Ronan had found a good companion in Loki - he was intelligent and quick witted in ways that Tony and Bruce weren't, showed some interest in human culture like Thor, but didn't become absorbed in certain aspects, and also, as he was inside a cage, couldn't beat him to a pulp like Natasha and Steve did while attempting to train him.

Ronan was probably not supposed to like the guy at all, but he couldn't help it. There was something about Loki that made him feel comfortable.

He should probably be worrying about that.

What didn't occur to Ronan was that Fury had footage of what, exactly, Ronan was doing with Loki, and that combined with the Director's initial distrust of him, would make the trust Ronan had built up collapse.

XoooX

"Wait, so you're actually reading a possibly psychotic God a children's book. About wizards. And debating about it with him?" Tony looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. Ronan rolled his eyes, flipping through the pages of The Prisoner of Azkaban absently from where he was perched on a metal table. The pages were marked with pencil notes and doodles in the margins, comments on plot holes and character development and foreshadowing for when he and Loki eventually reached the book.

If they would get that far.

"I still think there is more to this than Loki just wanting to take over the world. He wanted Asgard originally, according to Thor, and the footage I've seen is highly suspicious." Ronan argued and Tony raised an eyebrow.

"I think Stark was more focused on the reading part." Bruce pointed out, sipping his coffee. Tony offered him the bag of tortilla chips he was currently snacking on, and the doctor took out a handful.

"Bruce, I have told you, it's Tony." Tony said. "And yes. I am more interested in the reading part."

"I'm not a spy. I am not trained in manipulating people to get their secrets. If he trusts me, however…"

"He might accidentally let something slip." Tony looked impressed. "I knew I liked you, kid."

"Not a kid." Ronan chimed, reaching for the bag of chips and stealing a few. "But, yes, my plan is ingenious."

"You're starting to like him, aren't you?" Bruce raised an eyebrow. Ronan choked on his chip.

"No!" He protested, apparently too quickly for the two scientists, who both looked bewildered. Ronan felt his face flush.

"Ronan, he would turn you into dust." Bruce pointed out.

"He's sort of trapped in a cage at the moment." Ronan pointed out. "I just like having a conversation that I can keep track of, and not get beaten to a pulp. Ok?"

"Ok, no need to get all defensive." Tony sighed. "I missed you when you were all hero worshippy. You were ridiculously cute."

"I wa -"

"Tony has a point." Bruce's lips were twitching. "You were very cute."

"I am not cute." Ronan muttered, jamming another chip into his mouth and chewing on it as obnoxiously as possible. Bruce rolled his eyes and Tony snorted in amusement. "How far has J got into SHIELD systems, anyway?"

"I am not going to ask how you know about that, but he's into everything but the really high security stuff. But that won't take too long to crack." Tony grinned devilishly. "Want to see what our resident super villian does when no one's looking?"

"You're going to make a dick joke. Don't."

"I can't believe you just said dick." Ronan blinked. "Tony, Bruce Banner did just say the word 'dick', right?"

"It's a terrifying thing." Tony agreed, pulling up the CCTV feeds as Bruce rolled his eyes.

"I am capable of using swear words, you know."

"You just don't strike me as the type to do so." Ronan reached over to pat Bruce on the arm fondly. "You're too nice."

"I can turn into a giant, green monster when angry."

"Details, details." Ronan waved a hand. "I bet when people aren't trying to kill him, the Hulk isn't too bad a guy."

"I'm not going to comment on _that_ theory." Bruce rolled his eyes again, before returning to his work.

"Hey, Ro, did you get Romanoff involved in your not-interrogation plan?" Tony asked, eyes locked on the CCTV feed. Ronan blinked.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Because...well, she's speaking to Loki now." Ronan let out a noise of disbelief, joining Tony to watch the CCTV feed. True enough, the Black Widow was there, face to face with Loki. Ronan swore violently and Bruce started at the loudness of it.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Ronan hissed urgently, fingers tapping a fast paced rhythm against the tabletop. "Can you get sound on this thing?"

"Possibly. Maybe it's nothing - no offense to your idea, but you've been at it for days and we have nothing."

"I'm getting his trust. He may be more open to sharing plans." Ronan retorted. "By bringing someone else in who is obviously interrogating him will get rid of the entire process. He'll be warier."

"You aren't supposed to grow to actually like a prisoner, Ronan." Bruce pointed out from his workspace and Ronan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I know. I just...can't help but feel that something's...off. About this entire thing."

"Agreed." Tony said. "And what d'you know - I finally have proof."

On the hologram board he had up, a sign flashing with the words 'phase two' was blocking the view of Natasha and Loki, both wearing masks that seemed almost impenetrable.

XoooX

Of course it didn't take long for Fury to find out that Tony was hacking into SHIELD documents.

Honestly, Ronan was surprised the director hadn't found out days ago. It was only about five minutes after Tony had gotten into top security files that Fury stormed in, Tony not looking at all guilty, Bruce trying not to turn green and Ronan still scanning the screen.

"What are you doing, Stark?" His voice was harsh, and Ronan had to laugh. It was humourless.

"We could ask you the exact same question." He retorted, leaning against the table.

"You aren't supposed to be here." Fury said and Ronan snarled.

"What, you're going to lock me in my room like a badly behaved kid? I may be the youngest here, but I am still an adult, _Director_."

"The kid has a point." Tony said. "What exactly is phase 2?"

Fury didn't get an opportunity to respond. Steve had come in, dropping a prototype of a gun onto one of the empty tables.

"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons." He said. "Sorry, computer was a bit too slow for me."

"Weapons? Why the fuck do you need more dangerous weapons?" Ronan scowled.

"We need to protect ourselves."

"From what?"

"From them." Fury gestured to Thor, who had entered the room with Natasha when the argument had increased in volume. The God raised an eyebrow in question. "A nuclear deterrent if they decide to decimate a town again."

"Yes, because nuclear weapons are clearly the best way to do that!" Tony snapped, Thor cutting across Steve's probably less than civil response.

"My people wish nothing but peace."

"But you aren't the only people out there." Fury retorted.

"Nuclear weapons won't deter them." Ronan spoke up. "If Asgardians aren't deterred by it, if they who want peace can destroy cities, others will be much harder to destroy. You must know that."

"Not like you would mind if someone from another world took over ours." Natasha said that, voice quiet, but Ronan caught it.

"Excuse me?!"

"We've been monitoring your actions." Fury's voice was harsh. "Recording your conversations and we know that you've been man -"

"Manipulated?" Ronan snarled. "You know absolutely _nothing_ -"

"We know your name is Ronan Samuel Spire, your birthday is August the thirteenth." Ronan felt his face grow slack as Natasha spilled the facts, voice monotone, Fury just listening. Everyone just listening. "We know your mother died when you were ten -"

"Shut up."

"We know your grades and wellbeing started slipping after that."

"I said shut up."

"We know your father is in a coma after a car accident."

"I said SHUT UP!" Ronan practically screamed, covering his ears with his hands, eyes clenched shut. All eyes were on him and his skin was on fire.

"We know that Loki is manipulating you." Fury said. Ronan laughed, bitter and hoarse.

"No one manipulates me."

"Your luck -"

"My luck doesn't work. My mother is dead, my father is good as." Ronan blinked back tears furiously. "It only works on keeping me alive. It's why I'm not dead - because the bullets didn't fit the gun, or it jammed, or the blade was too dull to do any harm." The room had gone deadly silent. "Because for some reason, when I really don't want it to bounce back, it fucking does."

"Kid -"

"I want to know why the hell you think building weapons is a good idea." Ronan cut Tony off, snarling at Fury. "Why the fuck you think the Asgardian in the cage is manipulating me, when all you have done is spill my life story to everyone, said things that I don't want people to know."

"I also want to know why you are making weapons of mass destruction." Bruce sounded like he was trying not to lose his cool. "And why you thought bringing all of us in on this was a good idea. We're a mixture of people who can't cooperate without losing our cool. We...we're a time bomb. And he knows that." Ronan felt his stomach churn at that.

"The question is...when is our time up?" Ronan whispered.

That was when the explosion hit.

XoOoX

Took me wayyyy too long to update, but here it is!

Some more about Ro revealed, his views on the Avengers and company and yeah.

When I eventually get around to finishing this, I will be writing more - The Dark World, Age of Ultron and bits that happen in between the three main fics. Civil War is still a bit shaky, primarily because Ronan shakes things up a lot during the next two fics.

Anyway, hope you enjoy! ~ Jazz xx


	5. Of Taming Monsters and Terrible Truths

Everything felt fuzzy, like that one time Ronan had been hit by a car when he was young. His hearing had come back first, his mother screaming and someone on the phone calling an ambulance. Then it was the pain, a dull, thudding ache throughout his entire body, how it felt hard to breathe. An ache in his head, like he'd...well, like he'd been hit by a car. He was lucky that he hadn't been hurt worse.

It was lucky this time around that he hadn't been killed.

The first thing he felt was the pain in his head, like he'd cracked his skull. He raised his hand to the back of his head, and his fingers came away red and wet. Blood. He was bleeding.

Fuck.

"Ro?!" The yell sounded fuzzy, but familiar.

"Tony?" His voice sounded small, and he heard a quiet 'thank God' from Steve. "What -?"

"One of the propellers is down. Cap and I are gonna fix it. Stay put." Then there was the sound of people running and Ronan groaned, managing to get to his feet.

As if he was staying put.

His ankle throbbed in protest and Ronan winced. Not so lucky this time around, but the world wasn't spinning. The bleeding was slightly worrying and he grit his teeth. He could deal with that later when there wasn't the blaring of alarms.

He was worried about Bruce. The explosion, the lights, the noise - that would increase his heart rate, bring out the Hulk and then Fury would bring out guns. Which would just make him angry.

A scared and angry Hulk was what no one wanted. Yet it was probably what would happen if someone didn't intervene.

That someone was going to be Ronan.

He stumbled over to where the floor had collapsed, peering down and grimacing.

That was a long way down. If the explosion hadn't made Bruce turn, then the drop would have.

"This is such a bad idea." He muttered to himself. "Such a fucking bad idea. Actually, this whole thing was a bad idea." It didn't stop him from lowering himself down, trying not to put pressure on his aching ankle.

Ronan's main plan was follow the path of destruction which was easier said than done, due to the fact that the helicarrier had sort of exploded. "Note to self; think plans through more."

He managed to notice a set of stairs that had been destroyed - looking like they had been torn from the elevated path - and winced. He was definitely going in the right direction at least.

He kept moving forward, ignoring the throbbing in his ankle. That could wait, right now he wanted to make sure Bruce was alright. Quiet, meek, gentle Bruce who Ronan genuinely liked.

He heard the sound of fists being thrown, metal clanging and Ronan picked up the pace. The roar confirmed his suspicions and he began to run, ankle screaming in protest. He ground his teeth together, ignoring it as he ducked under pipes that had been torn apart.

He froze when he spotted Natasha, knees drawn close to her midsection almost protectively, eyes wide and staring at the hole through the wall. Natasha was terrified, and that chilled Ronan to the bone. He ignored her for now, priority on dealing with Bruce, who was currently in the midst of a fight with Thor.

The Hulk was scarier in real life. Green skin and rippling muscles, like someone had dosed him with steroids or like he was wearing one of those inflatable muscle suits. But Ronan could see some of Bruce in his features.

"Don't." Natasha's quiet voice stopped Ronan from moving into room. "He'll -"

"He won't." Ronan replied. "It's Bruce." Natasha looked like she wanted to say something else, but before she could Ronan had stepped through the wall.

He was just relieved that there wasn't any yelling and screaming. "Hey, Big Guy." The speed that the Hulk turned with was startling, and Thor took the moment of distraction to reach for his hammer. Ronan shook his head minutely. He could feel his heart racing, and he held up his hands to show he had no weapons. "I'm not going to hurt you, see? No weapons. I know you're scared. I know you want to protect Bruce." Thor seemed distracted, before he spoke.

"Loki."

"Go." Ronan shooed him away with one hand, cursing mentally as the Hulk's attention turned to Thor. "Over here, Big Guy." Slowly, the Hulk turned to face him again, brows furrowed. His heart felt like a hummingbird, trapped in his chest, wanting to break free. Ronan calmed himself. Bruce wouldn't hurt him, and in a way, the Hulk was Bruce. "Yeah, that's it. No one's going to hurt you or Bruce, I swear it. I won't let them. I'm a friend."

"Lucky." Was all the Hulk said, and Ronan had to laugh slightly.

"Yeah, I'm lucky. We need Bruce back - I know you want to stay out, because he's safe, but everyone's scared. I'm not. I know you won't hurt me. You're my friend, too." He felt himself stiffen as Hulk leaned into his personal space. He frowned, and Ronan fully expected to be made a pancake.

"Hurt." Hulk grunted, and oh yeah, the bleeding. Ronan raised a hand to his head at the mention of his wound, and Hulk made a noise of discontent. "Banner help." And, just like that, he shrunk.

It had actually worked.

Ronan hastily shrugged his hoodie off, wrapping it around Bruce's shoulders as the scientist stumbled. Ronan hissed as his ankle protested against the weight of the older man, but Ronan supported him.

"Nice to have you back, Doc."

"Ronan...what…?" Bruce blinked, before his eyes widened. "He came out? Did I...?"

"Nothing major. There's a set of metal stairs that won't recover, and a hole in a wall, but I think Thor is also to blame for that."

"You're bleeding!"

"I got thrown against a wall -"

"Oh my God!"

"- In the explosion. Bruce, I'm fine. The Hulk didn't hurt me."

"He could've!" Bruce hissed, voice slightly hysterical. "Ronan, you could've been killed!"

"I wasn't. He was just...he was scared, Bruce." Ronan tried to explain. "Your transformation is triggered by your heart rate. Flashing lights, a fall, an explosion? Pretty scary. He was scared and he came out because he thought you were in danger. I didn't attack him. I didn't scream, or run or any of that. I told him I would keep you safe and he believed me." Bruce just shook his head.

"You are insane, Ronan."

"I try. Come on, let's get you some clothes that aren't mine. Things sound like they've calmed down."

XoxoX

Things had calmed down, but for the wrong reasons.

The fact the propeller had been fixed was good, but the fact was Loki had escaped, almost killing Phil Coulson in the process.

'Almost' was the key word.

Ronan didn't understand why the pseudo god - who wanted to take over the world, apparently - wouldn't just outright kill one of the men who was trying to prevent him from doing so. What would stop Loki from just stopping his heart from beating? Or, worse, turn Phil into one of his men?

That was what everyone was debating about. Thor was currently MIA, having been ejected from the helicarrier via the containment chamber. Ronan wasn't too worried - Thor was an Asgardian, and had suffered worse. Still, he hoped the man wasn't hurt too bad, because he actually liked Thor.

"This doesn't make sense." Bruce was saying, yet again. He was in a pair of sweats, slightly too big on him, and a SHIELD t-shirt. "He left one of our men alive, but why? He had ample opportunity to kill Agent Coulson, but he didn't."

"We know." Steve sighed. "But...why?"

"Because of Ro." Tony said, as though it was obvious. Ronan started, before trying to slide off his seat and under the table when all eyes turned to him. "Come on, isn't it obvious?"

"Not...not really?" Steve's words sounded like a question instead of a statement, but Natasha was nodding. She had left Clint for the debate, letting the archer clean up and try to make sense of what had happened.

"Ronan was the only one who spoke to him." Natasha pointed out. "The only one who just talked to Loki like he wasn't…"

"A monster." Bruce finished, voice quiet. His eyes were locked on Ronan. "Like how you talked to the Hulk."

"No one is inherently evil." Ronan said, voice quiet. "He was raised with Thor, who was at first arrogant, but is...a good man. I...wanted to find the part of him that was like Thor in a way. That was good. But something happened, out there. Couldn't any of you see it?"

"Ronan -"

"No." He held up a hand, cutting off a startled Steve. "The pale skin, the sweat, the bloodshot eyes. Compare him to Thor - not the lack of muscle, but...he doesn't look healthy."

"You think he was tortured. Questioned." Natasha's voice was certain, a single eyebrow raised. "Made to...what? Take over the world?"

"Made to follow orders." Ronan corrected. "Orders which involve that. He's experienced something much, much worse than what he believes the consequences of this will be if he fails." He got to his feet, ankle splinted enough that it didn't scream in agony when he paced, thinking. "Part frost giant, if I remember correctly, so possibly great heat. Exposed to that for so long without water...possibly dehydration and maybe heat stroke? Something similar maybe."

"Heat exhaustion." Tony spoke up and Ronan was relieved that someone was seeming to agree with him. "The symptoms match up. Right now though, we need to figure out where he's gone. He needs to open that portal, now he has the means to, especially if he believes doing so will mean he won't have to go through that again. He'll want it to be somewhere big, to get attention, somewhere hi...Oh. Oh shit." Tony had paled drastically.

"If you're thinking what I am thinking…" Bruce trailed off.

"New York." Ronan finished for them, cursing and pulling out his phone, jabbing in a number he had memorized before setting it on speaker. Everyone stared at him as the phone rang and Ronan ignored them diligently.

"Hello?" Ronan had never been more relieved to hear Marie's voice in his life.

"It's Ronan, Marie. You in Manhattan?"

"Yes. I was shopping so you better have a good reason for calling."

"Can you look up for me and tell me what you see?"

"The sky." She responded, voice dry. Ronan's teammates snickered and he hated them all. "Am I on speaker? You actually have more friends! I'm im...pre...seed…" Marie's voice trailed off. "Ro?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I see the thing you're looking for." Her voice had grown quiet, uncertain. "I hate you. So much. This has something to do with the Hammer last year, doesn't it?"

"Sort of." He answered, looking at the rest of the Avengers. They all looked serious. "Guys. I think we found him."


	6. Of Saving Manhattan and Confronting Gods

Of course Marie demanded an explanation. It was Marie - infinitely curious, and way too scary to say 'no' to, even on the other side of a phone. So he kept it on speaker as he shoved on something more protective than his SHIELD t-shirt and attempted to explain the situation as best as he could without revealing the fact he was working with a super secret government agency.

"Ro. You get yourself involved with some serious shit." She managed to get out after Ronan had finished and he had to laugh. It sounded slightly hysterical.

"No way, Marie. I thought this was normal for everyone." The sarcasm in his tone was thick, hoping to get a laugh out of his usually carefree friend. Instead, her voice came through the phone as serious.

"Ronan, serious talk - how are you doing? I don't want to get a call like the one I got -"

"Geez, Marie, that was five years ago." Ronan could feel himself shaking and he forced himself to focus on fastening his bulletproof vest - probably no help against aliens from outer space, but whatever.

"It takes more than years to get over that urge." Her voice grew quiet and he could hear her muttering something to another person. "Listen, a few friends and I are gonna meet you near Stark Tower."

"No." Ronan's blood turned to ice. "Marie, you need to leave Manhattan as fast as you can."

"This is my city, Ronan. No power hungry psychopath is gonna take it away from me. Not without a fight." Her voice was sharp, and Ronan cursed down the phone as he turned it back to handheld, ignoring the looks from Natasha, Clint and Steve as he kept talking, allowing them to hijack a jet without much trouble. "Mind your language, Spire."

"Marie, please. Please, you'll get yourself killed."

"You're not the only one with superpowers, Ro. You don't have to do this alone."

"I'm not alone. I'm with Captain America."

"And you have me. Always. Best friends forever, remember? We made that promise when we were seven."

"I'm still under the impression you used your silver tongue to get me to agree to that." Ronan sighed, accepting defeat. "Just...lay low until we show up. Please."

"We're not idiots, Ro." He could practically hear Marie's shit eating grin through the phone. "See you in a bit." She hung up and Ronan glared at his phone like it had personally offended him, instead of Marie.

"I hate that girl sometimes."

"Who is she?" Natasha asked, trying to get a grasp of Ronan's friend, he assumed. Maybe to make a file for her. "Besides being called Marie, of course."

"She's a pain in my ass." Ronan started, and Clint snorted loudly from the pilot's seat. "We went to school together until she moved to New York when we were ten. She...she's like me. Has the X gene - says she's 'good with her mouth' and then proceeds to wink at the most attractive girl in sight."

"She's…" Steve trailed off awkwardly.

"Gay as hell." Ronan confirmed and Natasha, Bruce and Clint all snorted at Steve's jump. "Relax, Cap. It's not illegal anymore, or taboo. If it was, Marie would probably be in jail. She's not exactly shy about expressing her preference."

"I am imagining her with rainbow hair." Clint said. "Possibly a shirt saying 'I 'heart' Girls' or something along those lines."

"Go with 'something along those lines'." Ronan said, remembering the selfie she'd sent him a couple of years back, proclaiming that she 'loved vaginas'. It still traumatised him. "Plus, she into all natural stuff - her hair isn't rainbow. Sorry to disappoint."

"As invigorating as this discussion is, we should probably figure out what, exactly, to do when we reach Manhattan." Tony's voice sounded over the comms, reminding them of the bigger issue at hand. "Any reason you're not coming with me to talk reindeer games down?"

"I don't want my friends to die." Ronan said in explanation. "And the bigger issue will, obviously, be the alien army. I know I can talk Loki down, I know him...sort of."

"Reassuring, that." Clint muttered. "That...whatever he is, was inside my head. He made me do whatever he wanted. He could do that to you."

"He won't." That Ronan was certain of. "Hell, he wasn't even putting that staff's full power into possessing you. You missed Fury's heart, his head. You're a marksman, Barton - never missed a shot. Something in there was telling you not to kill Fury. If Loki could get rid of the leader of those who were trying to stop him, why wouldn't he, unless he didn't really want to succeed?"

"Where did you find this guy?" Clint asked Natasha. "That actually made sense." Ronan puffed up slightly in pride.

"I try."

"If he throws me out of one of my glass windows, I will pitch a fit." Tony stated.

"You are a grown man." Bruce sighed.

"Also it's your fault for making an entire wall a window." Ronan added. Steve may have snorted.

"Such support." Tony said. "Here's to not dying."

XoooX

It didn't take them long to spot Marie and her friends, much to Ronan's relief.

She was knelt in front of two young kids, maybe nine or ten years old, and judging from the scarily calm expressions on their faces, she had her persuasive power on full blast. Her dark hair, usually curly and loose, was pulled back in two dutch braids, dark brown hands moving as she spoke. Despite the fact her attention was on the two young children, she kept glancing around the area, making sure that none of the chitauri were getting too close.

Yes, the portal had been opened, Tony unable to break through the barrier around the device and unable to convince Loki to call off the order to attack. Ronan had expected that - he had wished for more time to prepare, but no, his luck had not kicked in for that.

Their jet had been shot down by a blast from Loki's sceptre, but no one was terribly injured, just shellshocked, and Ronan had managed to stop Bruce from freaking out enough for the Hulk to make an appearance too early in the program.

Their race to the base of Stark Tower led to this current moment in time, where Ronan found himself frozen in fear as Marie failed to notice the chitauri making to shoot at her, attention focused on the children.

Ronan didn't manage to get out a yell of warning before a blonde woman was at Marie's back, one hand flung up. A shield, made of light blue energy, was flung up, deflecting the blast from the weapon and making it hit the chitauri. The woman blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, focusing on keeping the shield intact as she beckoned them over with her head, hands still outstretched in front of her.

"You must be Ronan." She said when the group had ducked behind her shield, Natasha and Clint shooting at some of the enemies on their dart over. "Heard a lot about you - Kirsten Grace. I would shake your hand, but I would rather keep this shield up."

"Of course Marie makes friends with others with the X gene." Ronan commented and Kirsten flashed him a grin.

"Stay still." Marie's voice was hefty, and it took all of Ronan's strength to resist the urge to become a human statue at the sound of her voice. His childhood friend turned to face him, eyes dark and worried. "Once again, you deal with some serious shit, Ro."

"No need to tell me that." Ronan retorted, glancing over at the Avengers. "This is Marie. Marie, these are -"

"Very attractive people." Marie finished with a grin. "Especially you - I dig redheads."

"There is a time and place for flirting." Natasha responded, though her lips twitched in amusement. Marie lost her grin, face turning serious.

"Right. Alien invasion. How you holding up, Kirst?"

"It would be useful if you could move the kids somewhere safe before the shield flickers out of existence. But, you know, take your time." Kirsten's voice sounded strained and Marie nodded. She turned back to the kids, eyes flickering to an entrance to the subway.

"Run down that tunnel and stay under there until someone comes to move you somewhere safer." Ronan forced his feet to stay still, to not follow the children who obediently followed Marie's instructions. They were almost followed by Steve, but Marie grabbed his arm, pulling him back. The super soldier blinked, appearing to come out of a trance.

"What -"

"I'm...pretty persuasive." Marie said in explanation and Kirsten let the shield fall, stumbling where she stood. Her eyes scanned the sky, lighting up when a bird swooped low.

It was an eagle, much to Ronan's surprise, until it hit the floor and transformed into a human. They were tall, with dark skin and long brown hair, his features marking them of Native descent. They were also naked, and seemed unabashed about it.

Everyone but Marie and Kirsten averted their gaze, oblivious to the fact that they could see breasts, and the person sighed.

"For God's sake, you all have nipples." They said, and Natasha snorted loudly.

"Eli, you're traumatising Captain America." Marie pointed out, and the person - Eli - sighed heavily.

"Old fashioned sensibilities...why is he even called Captain _America_? He's not even native."

"Now is not the time for another impassioned rant about the whites, although I will gladly join you with that at a later time. What did you see?"

"Crazy person in green is still up Stark Tower, Stark's leading a group of chitauri away from civilians. Oh, another guy in a cape showed up. Got a hammer. One of yours, I'm guessing?" Eli turned to Ronan, who nodded, still slightly stunned.

"...Don't you want a shirt or something?"

"I'm shifting again soon. Eli Locklear, by the way - Native American, shapeshifter and I prefer he and him pronouns." He offered a grin. Ronan gave an awkward salute, before Eli was off, transforming into an eagle mid run and soaring around skyscrapers, goading the Chitauri into chasing him. Bruce blinked.

"Is he always so…"

"Bold? Brash?" Marie suggested.

"Rude." Kirsten corrected, rolling her eyes. "That boy honestly has no manners."

"It's not like he ha - watch it!" Marie ducked, pulling Ronan down with her as a blast from a Chitauri weapon missed them. Steve retaliated with a throw of his shield, Marie wincing as she watched the alien fall. "Cover me."

She ignored the yell of warning as she ran out of cover, grabbing the dropped weapon amidst the firing of weapons. Ronan felt his stomach swoop as she ducked one blast and dodged another, ducking behind a car wreckage on the way back to where they had ducked down.

She was shielded by Kirsten on the way back, and as soon as she had vaulted the debris, Kirsten let the energy field drop, slumping against it, sweat beading her brow. Clint looked concerned.

"You alright?"

"Just tired." Kirsten wiped the sweat from her brow, flicking it away with an elegance Ronan envied. He noted the rings on her fingers, the bangles, the way her blonde hair was curled in a way you could only achieve from a salon. The fact she looked so high class, so much like a woman who wouldn't want to fight, made her next words surprising. "Does anyone have a gun?"

"A gun?" Natasha raised an eyebrow, passing one of her pistols over. "You know how to shoot?"

"I am a woman living in a society where men think it is perfectly alright to force themselves on women, with an overprotective uncle who is in the police force and a family background in the military." She replied, eying the weapon speculatively, before nodding, seemingly satisfied. "Of course I know how to shoot.

XoooX

True to her word, Kirsten could shoot. Pretty damn well, actually, especially if she had never actually used her training to hurt someone before, never mind kill. Marie was using the weapon she'd scooped up earlier like a staff, twirling it and hitting aliens, allowing the more experienced members of the team to actually finish them off.

It was Eli that impressed Ronan a great deal, soaring above the flying Chitauri, transforming into a bear and crashing into them, sending them both plummeting to the street, before returning to eagle form just before his feet - er, paws - hit the ground, soaring off to look for his next victim.

Thing was, there were just too many of them, not to mention that every time one of the larger aliens came through, it deposited another troop of Chitauri, before wreaking it's own brand of havoc.

"Ronan, think you can talk to Reindeer Games?" Tony's voice came through the comm unit and Ronan nodded, before realising he couldn't actually see Ronan's answer.

"Yeah. This is...bigger than I thought. Still no luck on disrupting the energy barrier, I'm guessing."

"Impenetrable. There must be a trigger, and Loki will know what it is."

"Gotcha - don't suppose I could get a lift?"

"What do you take me for?" Ronan spun, hearing the sound of the repulsors behind him as Tony landed, face piece retracting. The genius looked tired, and Ronan just admired the armor. Tony managed to flash a wink. "Like what you see?"

"Let me bask in the glory of your armor." Ronan retorted and Tony snorted.

"After this, you and me are gonna do some science, kid. Make you your own set if you can talk the primadonna down." He held out his hands and Ronan took them, letting out a shriek of surprise as Tony pulled him in closer, wrapping arms around his midsection before blasting off.

"Ronan?" Steve's voice came through the comms, worried.

"Getting a lift - Jesus, Stark, give a guy a warning!" The only response Ronan got was a deep chuckle.

They hit the landing pad of Stark Tower pretty quickly, and Ronan glanced up, taking in the portal.

"Want me to stay with you?" Tony asked, and Ronan noted his voice was quiet, almost gentle, so unlike Tony, who was all flash and performance. Ronan managed a nod.

"Please." Much to Ronan's dismay, his voice cracked, but Tony made no note he had heard it, heading inside via the landing pad, armor coming off as he went. Ronan followed close behind, noting the bands still on Tony's wrists. A back up plan. Ronan had no such safety net. He hoped he wouldn't need one.

Loki was watching the destruction from a window, and didn't turn when he addressed them.

"You can't stop it." Was all he said, Tony making his way to the bar, and Ronan snorted. Loki turned, startled, as though he hadn't expected Ronan's presence. His eyes grew wide, stunned, a startling moment of vulnerability, before the mask came up.

"I'll offer you a drink again." Tony held up a bottle of brandy, shaking it. Loki gave him a look of disdain. Tony shrugged, pouring some into one glass. "Ro?" Ronan shrugged.

"Why not? Give it here." Ronan caught the glass that Tony slid across the bar to him. He sipped it, Loki watching his actions with sharp eyes. Ronan downed the drink, burning his throat. Liquid courage. He needed it.

"Care to tell our dear Asgardian what you realised?" Tony asked, and Ronan hummed.

"I suppose." Ronan drawled, and Loki's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What do you believe you realise?"

"That this - this taking over the world - is not what you want. I realised, after watching the footage of when you first arrived. Pale skin, sunken, dark eyes, profuse sweating, lack of sleep. Thor told me about the portal, how you fell through it - whatever was on the other side, whatever gave you that staff, did something to you." Ronan noticed how his hand gripped the staff tighter, knuckles turning white with the strength of it. "When you came through, when you...changed Erik Selvig and Clint Barton, you left just enough of them left. Enough that Clint would only wound, not kill, Nick Fury, that Selvig, as all scientists do, has probably created a way to shut off the portal, despite what punishment may befall you for it. Because you _never wanted the earth_."

The next thing Ronan knew was that Loki had him pinned to the wall, a dagger at his throat, eyes wild and manic and panicked. Tony had risen from his seat, looking like a man on a mission. Ronan shot him a look, telling him to not move.

"Do not presume to know me." Loki hissed. "You know nothing."

"You won't kill me." Ronan said. He felt the dagger dig in a little deeper, felt a sting of pain. He didn't flinch.

"I won't hesitate to." The god hissed. "You are nothing but a little Midgardian."

"Yes. But you like me." Ronan retorted. "Because I treated you like something other than a monster. Because I told you stories about the heroes who are my teammates, my friends. I made you grow attached to them, which is why you couldn't kill Phil Coulson. Why you could only hurt him. You knew I liked him, you knew his death would hurt me, and you couldn't bear it. Because I was the only one down here who looked at you and saw a broken man."

"I am not broken!"

"You are being manipulated! You and your silver tongue and your sharp mind!" Ronan could have laughed. "You said you wouldn't hesitate to kill me. Do it."

"Ronan -" He heard Steve's worry through the comm, the sharp intake of Tony's breath. He saw Loki's grip on the dagger tighten, his mouth thinning.

He felt more than saw him curl into Ronan's form, the dagger falling to the floor with a metallic clang. He felt his shoulders shake, and Ronan let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"You made me weak." Loki sounded broken. Ronan resisted the urge to run a hand up and down his back. Tony was staring. "You make me break."

"You care too much for one little Midgardian." Ronan said, and Loki let out a sound that sounded like a sob. "The god of lies opened his heart to a little Midgardian, and his mask and ruse fell away."

"I hate you." Loki hissed. Ronan knew he didn't mean a word of it.

After all, he was still alive.

XoOoX

There is so much of this I hate.

Eh, whatever. I quite like the Loki confrontation, but that might be because I like writing Ronan and Loki interacting and the fact they don't know what to make of each other.

I can't write action scenes so I skipped, like, all of the battle hahaha we sorta get the gist of what happened anyway.

No clue when the next update'll happen - prolly soon. I shall be writing The Dark World next, but quick question - I have multiple other stories planned for Ronan's 'verse, would it be easier for you guys to post them all as one fic, or to do each movie separately, as well as the bits that happen in between?

Anyways, hope you enjoyed! ~ Jazz xx


	7. Of Parting Ways

Even after subduing Loki, the government had decided that nuking Manhattan was a brilliant idea.

Honestly, Ronan didn't hold much love for the higher ups in the United States, but really? Killing hundreds of thousands - possibly millions? - of people? Of innocents? Really? Tony had flown off in a suit almost immediately, trading places with Natasha as she secured Loki, picking up the staff.

The scariest part, though, had to be how Loki didn't put up a fight, didn't have a look of 'this is what I wanted' about him, as he had done before. Ronan's actions had taken the god by surprise, left him fumbling, and Ronan found it disconcerting that he could have such an effect on someone. Not to mention this someone was ridiculously powerful. That made the whole thing that much more terrifying.

"You ok?" Natasha's voice was quiet, slightly rough around the edges. She was bleeding from a cut on her head, Ronan noticed, hair just a mass of red curls, windswept and messy. It was odd, he supposed, to see the assassin anything but put together.

"Yeah." Ronan shook himself, as though physically dislodging his thoughts. "Up to the roof - we'll be prepared to close the portal once Tony's dealt with the nuke."

"Nuke?!" Natasha's eyes grew wide with shock, startling on her usually impassive face. "What nuke?!"

"Apparently, the government thinks that killing millions of innocents is a brilliant idea." Ronan said. He heard Marie's snort over the comms, and regretted Steve ever giving her one.

"The government is a bag of shit."

"Not now, Marie!" Kirsten's reprimand sounded, along with the sound of a gunshot. "Help me outside of the mall, will you?"

"On it!"

"How are you friends with her?" Natasha asked, and Ronan shrugged.

"Dunno. Come on - we should move."

They raced to the roof, Selvig coming to, and Ronan skidded to a halt. Erik blinked once, twice.

"I'm seeing things - you're in New Mexico."

"Brought in for the madness." Ronan corrected him. "Any way to close this portal?"

"Not yet!" Tony yelled over the comms. "I need to get that nuke in there."

"That's a one way trip, Stark." Steve said, and Ronan furiously ignored that statement. He refused to believe it.

The next actions, the next few minutes passed so quickly they felt like seconds. He saw Tony fly into the wormhole, watched with bated breath as he waited for the familiar red and gold suit to come flying back, Tony's smug 'easy as anything' ringing through the comms, but that didn't happen.

"You can't be serious?!" Ronan had missed Steve's comment, Kirsten's clear voice sounding in disbelief. "All due respect, Captain, but you will be sentencing Mister Stark, one of the most influential men in America, to death! I can -"

"What choice do we have, Miss Grace?" Steve's voice sounded resigned. "If you have a better plan, I'm open to suggestions."

Kirsten stayed silent, and it was only when Natasha broke through the forcefield surrounding the device that the pieces finally clicked together in Ronan's head.

"Woah, woah - this is Tony we're sending to death here!" And his voice sounded hysterical even to himself, but no one listened and Natasha touched the device with the sceptre.

He stared as the wormhole shrunk, breathing out a 'no', his eyes welling up with unshed tears. Until a figure fell backwards, shooting through the air.

Steve's whispered curse was heard, and it was the Hulk who caught the falling man, and Ronan held his breath, not daring to hope -

"Woah, what just happened?" Ronan's laugh sounded hysterical to his own ears, but full of relief. "Please tell me nobody kissed me?"

"We won." Steve said, and Ronan tuned out Tony's nonsensical blather, sinking to his knees. Natasha knelt next to him, a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at her, the assassin's face unusually soft.

"We did it, Ronan." She said, and Ronan smiled, a watery thing.

"Yeah. Yeah, we did."

XoooX

Ronan didn't see Tony until SHIELD agents arrived, and when he did he may have flung himself at the genius. He felt Tony stiffen, as though unused to such open affection, but returned the hug after a second of hesitation.

"Hey, kid."

"I thought you were dead." Ronan managed and, oh God, he was crying. How embarrassing.

"Ro, dear, you're scaring the poor man." Marie's voice sounded amused and Ronan pulled away from Tony, only to turn the hug on Marie, who didn't hesitate to hug him back. "Nice to see you, too."

"I told you to leave, you idiot." Ronan muttered and Marie's grip tightened fractionally.

"Never." She whispered, and Ronan figured she meant it in more ways than one.

" - and with all due respect, Director, I believe the casualties would be much more if we weren't there." The hug was broken by Kirsten's voice, and Ronan turned to see her entire 5 foot three inches, blonde hair somehow still neatly curled and in a white sundress, squaring off against Director Fury. The entire scene was surreal, and Eli, who had tugged on a pair of joggers and a t-shirt provided by SHIELD, was trying not to snicker.

"Miss Grace, you and your...companions are merely civi -"

"We were not civilians once our mutations came to light, and you know it!" She shot back, and even Tony looked impressed. Natasha let out a low whistle.

"Your friend is impressive." She hissed to Marie, who puffed up like a proud mama bird.

"I know." She said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in your database there were already files about every person of note who had a mutation. The only reason you didn't call any of them in is because they don't know about SHIELD, or because they are, as you said, 'civilians'. Whatever - the fact of the matter is, reprimanding us for showing up here is not going to change anything." Kirsten blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Besides, bringing in Mister Spire already brought a civilian into this situation, did it not?" Fury blinked a few times before relenting, turning and returning back to the helicopter he had arrived in. Kirsten turned on her heel, cocking her head at the slack jawed looks she was getting. "What?"

"Where do you find these people?" Clint asked Natasha, who pointed to Ronan.

"Hey, Marie found her!"

"We shared a debate group." Marie sighed almost dreamily. "She absolutely destroyed a white boy who was talking about how immigrants should be kicked out of America."

"She told him that he should be kicked out, considering that the white people in America are technically immigrants, and the only true American's are those of Native descent." Eli added, ruffling Kirsten's hair, ignorant to how red she was.

"It's true." Kirsten pointed out, only to grow silent as Loki was led off to a jet.

The look of confusion on Loki's face was obvious, but also sort of relief was there. That it was over? Maybe that the others on the other side of the portal were gone? Ronan made to move forward, wanting to ask, wanting to know...what? If Loki was alright? What was going to happen to him now? Marie stopped him, a hand on his shoulder.

"Ro -" She was surprised when Ronan shook her off, making his way to Loki, who had been accompanied by Thor. The smaller of the two was avoiding looking at the other, who seemed to be pleading with him.

"Thor." Loki jolted as though hit by Ronan's words and Thor turned to him, looking defeated in a way.

"He won't talk to me."

"Loki is right here, you know." Ronan commented, voice gentle. Then his eyes caught on the thing in Thor's hand. "What -"

"It's…" He held it out and Ronan felt himself grow ill.

It was silver, a piece of metal, which would not have made him sick. No, it was the fact it was designed to muzzle someone, to keep them silent. His eyes flickered between it and Loki, remembering when he read about the threads. About sewn lips and tears and the abject horror of anyone, even one who had the power of clever words, having their freedom of speech taken away. Of being treated like less than human.

"You can't be serious?" Ronan was aware his voice was shaking. "You cannot be fucking serious."

"His words -"

"Are his words. You are not muzzling him like some common dog!" Ronan's voice had risen at the end, effectively drawing attention to him. He wasn't embarrassed, like he would have been before. No, he was furious. "I told you about the legend, about what you did to him in it! You _sew his lips shut_ , and you think this _thing_ is any better?!" Thor stepped back, eyes wide at the sound of Ronan's voice, at the fury emanating off him. Ronan would be backing away, too. He could barely believe how angry he was, how enraged.

"Ronan." He whipped around at the sound of his name, a cutting remark on the tip of his tongue, only to pause at Bruce in oversized sweats and eyes kind and sad. "Come on. Let...let Thor do what he must." Hesitantly, Ronan turned, somehow managing to not look back at the warring brothers as he headed over to a concerned looking group of Avengers.

He was proud of himself when he heard the clang of metal against the concrete, the sound of the muzzle falling from Thor's slack hands.

XoooX

The scariest thing, now that it was all over, was that Ronan didn't know what he was going to do tomorrow.

Thor had gone, Loki in chains but not the muzzle, and the rest of the team were standing where the two had once been, plus Marie and her friends. Ronan felt like they deserved to see the resolution - they had fought, too. They should see the end of the incident.

But now they were all going to go, and Ronan could only think of how much he didn't want to go back to his apartment, when days ago he would have leapt at the opportunity to go home and avoid the problem he had been tasked to solve.

He had grown attached, he realised, to this bunch of misfits.

To Clint, despite his short time, with his smile and perfect aim and how he didn't immediately dismiss Ronan's claims of Loki's actions not being entirely his own. To Natasha, and her quiet attitude and how she was so fierce without the use of brute strength, and her soft smile that she offered Marie when his friend asked her to call her, with an extravagant wink.

To Steve, and his golden boy merits and strong sense of justice, and how he was more than just a comic book character. How he genuinely cared that much, and how the shield was perfect for him because above all else, he was a protector.

To Bruce, and his awkwardness and the way his eyes lit up when presented with a challenge. His nervousness and twitchiness and how he couldn't hurt a fly, of how the Hulk actually liked Ronan and wouldn't hurt him. How gentle they both, truly, were.

Most of all, though, Ronan would miss Tony. Tony, and his ridiculous nicknames and his ability to hide snacks anywhere and just pull them out at a moment's notice. How behind all that exuberance and posturing, he cared so much, too much, and showed it in the way he would shoot teasing barbs at Steve and ramble about science with Bruce and ruffle Ronan's hair and call him 'kid'.

And Ronan found himself sniffling slightly, trying not to cry, because they were all going and the last time someone had left him, they hadn't come back - either because their eyes could never open again, or because they were too badly hurt to truly recover.

"Hey, Ro." That was Tony, and Ronan scrubbed furiously at his eyes when he turned. There was a lopsided smile on the billionaires face. "I meant what I said - we need to do science sometime. Just you and me. My doors are open."

"Thank you." His voice cracked, but Tony, bless him, didn't mention it. He just grinned and ruffled his hair, before getting into his car, Bruce in the passenger's side. The doctor waved at him, and Ronan raised a hand in return.

Marie slung an arm across his shoulder, pulling him close to her side.

"Think you're gonna be alright?" She asked, and Ronan stuck a hand in his pocket, fingers curling around the phone with every Avengers' number in it, ready to call them at the push of a button.

"Yeah." Ronan said, smiling. "I think I'll be alright."

And he let her lead him away, Kirsten and Eli following, into a day full of exciting possibilities and the knowledge that he would never be truly alone again.

XoOoX

And the Avengers part of this is done!

There will be a brief interlude, focusing on The Winter Soldier, starring Marie, but then it's back to regular Ronan-based shenanigans in The Dark World. Also, seven chapters for The Lucky Seven(th) which, good planning.

Hope you enjoyed this one! ~ Jazz xx


	8. Interlude - Marie (The Winter Soldier)

Marie bumped into Steve and Natasha again at the mall.

She hadn't been expecting to see them again - Natasha hadn't even texted her which hurt a bit, but then again they were both super secret agents or something like that, so probably missions got in the way of relationships. Romantic or otherwise. A damn shame, really.

They probably stared at each other for a while, until Natasha grabbed her arm and pulled her along to the escalators.

"Woah, not like I'm complaining, but what is actually going on here?"

"We're running." Natasha said, voice quiet, and now Marie noticed that her eyes were never focused on one point, constantly flickering around the area. "Hydra is in SHIELD." And ok, what?

"What?"

"Not now." Steve mumbled, voice quiet, and he did look good in glasses. "We'll explain later. But they'll know you because -"

"New York." Marie nodded sharply. "Got'cha."

So she allowed herself to be led to the escalators and actually saw the people they were running from. She leaned over to Natasha. "Ok, it is slightly obvious they're government agents."

"Shit." Marie didn't think she'd heard Natasha curse before, usually so calm and composed. The agent turned around on the escalator, facing Marie and Steve, a step above her. Her eyes locked on Steve. "Kiss me."

"Wait, what?" Steve's eyes bugged and, ok, Marie was not even slightly annoyed that the question was directed at him instead of her. Totally not.

Ok maybe a bit.

"Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable." Natasha's voice was growing faster. "Kiss me."

Of course, Marie took Steve's second of hesitation to kiss Natasha instead and, yes, totally fucking worth it.

Her hands immediately went to Natasha's waist and Marie pulled her closer. Natasha seemed to almost melt, reciprocating the kiss - nothing flashy, just moving her lips against Marie's - and flinging her arms around her shoulders.

It was over all too soon, ending with Steve coughing uncomfortably. Natasha pulled back, and Marie reluctantly let her arms fall to her side. Natasha smirked. "Uncomfortable, Rogers?"

Steve muttered something, cheeks turning red. Marie snorted, and she followed Natasha's easy walk out of the mall, followed by an awkward Captain America.

XoooX

Instead of Steve's suggestion of hotwiring a car, Marie herded the two agents into her jeep, Steve shotgun, Natasha rummaging through her stuff in the back seats, and stepped on the gas.

"So Hydra - like the group lead by Red Skull in the comics - is actually still around?"

"You read the comics?" Steve asked and Marie rolled her eyes, manicured nails drumming a fast paced beat against the wheel.

"Ronan did. I was more interested in Wonder Woman - no offence meant." She added, eyes flickering up to the rear view mirror, enough to see that Natasha was looking through her duffel bag. "Having fun?"

"Your car is full of junk." Natasha replied.

"I think there's a vibrator in the back of...Steve's seat?" Marie snorted at Steve's jolt and Natasha's lunge towards the pocket at the back of the seat, only to pull away, disappointed.

"You're a horrible human being."

"I try." Marie hummed. "My bag isn't interesting - just a dance kit. Ballet - I teach little kids." Marie explained at Steve's curious look. She noted Natasha stiffen slightly at the mention of ballet, but didn't draw attention to it. She was curious, though.

"I didn't see you as a teaching type." Steve murmured, making sure Marie took the correct turning on the mostly deserted road they were on. "You seem...ah…"

"Reckless? Impulsive? Brash? Sexual? All are words used to describe me. You know, that aren't the homophobic, racist, overly sexist ones." Marie shrugged a shoulder. "I like kids. I like dancing - wanted to be on broadway but, you know, sometimes you take what you can get. The arts aren't an easy way to get by. But I have fun, I don't go to classes and want to die after, I look forward to it."

"You can seriously damage your feet to dance ballet." Natasha pointed out, but her voice sounded faint, like she was thinking about something else.

"Yeah. I came home with blisters and aching nails, but it was worth it." Marie retorted. "I love dancing, I love ballet. I love doing something traditionally done by people who are not like me and being better than them. I could dance forever if I wanted to. Even if it hurts." She shrugged a shoulder. "Besides, the worst damage happens to the professionals. With...what I'm like, I won't ever get to a stage where I permanently harm myself. I don't let the kids use pointe shoes. They learn ballet for fun - they don't need to worry about the damage to their feet. Not yet."

The car was silent, until Steve broke it.

"I didn't think ballet would be your thing." He said.

"Oh, I know more. Tap. Salsa. Ballroom. I'm best at salsa, and Kirsten keeps insulting my tap because I am honestly not the best at it. I know it. I just don't like it." She paused, before stopping the car. "We'll walk the rest of the way. Probably safer."

"Yeah." Natasha murmured, apparently eager to get out of the car. Marie glanced in the rearview mirror, and her eyes landed on her pointe shoes, laying side by side next to where Natasha had once sat.

XoooX

Fortunately after the disaster that was a missile being fired at the compound and subsequently nearly killing them, Steve seemed to have a place to lay low. Marie let him drive and curled up in the backseat, watching the outside world flash by and trying to gather her thoughts and her nerve.

Maybe she should have listened to Ronan when he told her to get out of Manhattan. Then she wouldn't be in this mess. She was worried about Eli and Kirsten, too, because they had no need to be there, and yet...they'd stayed with her. She was worried about Ronan, but only marginally less - last she heard, his scientist friend Jane had bought him a two way ticket to London and that was where he was going. Away from the memories, he'd told Marie, away from...well, you know.

How he had managed to fall head over heels for a pseudo-god who wanted a throne confused Marie greatly, but considering many of her past conquests, she couldn't really judge. Never again would she sleep with someone who was 'curious', only to turn around and say something incredibly homophobic the next day. She didn't need that kind of drama in her life, considering she was now apparently in danger of being blown up by a government run secret organisation.

"Couldn't you have used your persuasion on the computer?" Natasha asked, and it jolted Marie out of her contemplation. She sighed heavily.

"Wouldn't work. At least, I assume it wouldn't. I'm not that good."

"You seemed pretty powerful in Manhattan." Steve stated, frowning at her through the rear view mirror. She pulled a face in return. "I felt like I had to do what you said."

"You're a soldier, you are used to following orders. I suppose if I told you to kill someone innocent you wouldn't - not like I would do that - but telling you to move from one place to another? Easy. Some people are easier to persuade than others. I use it to get a ten per cent discount off of Tyler's ridiculously expensive coffee when he decides that staying awake for forty eight hours editing some footage for his film class is a good idea. I used it to make sure Kirsten actually slept during finals week. I use it to stop Eli from feeling dysphoric on really bad days. To get people out of bad relationships. I haven't used it on anyone like Zola, never mind the fact it was a computer system, not an actual human being." She shrugged a shoulder. "Might've worked, but I don't rely on it much - it's taxing, like how hand to hand combat is."

"You could have gotten that expensive coffee free. But you don't." Natasha observed. "Why?"

"Because that is stealing, and I feel bad enough paying less for it." Marie retorted. "I nearly talked a car dealer into giving me an open roof, bright red car once. It was an accident. A lot of the times I speak I don't actually realise my power is in use. It sucks. I have to be careful to ask questions a lot of the time, instead of telling someone to do something. That way they have a choice and that choice is important."

"You want them to have the freedom to say no." Steve deduced and Marie nodded.

"Yeah, I guess."

The rest of the drive was quiet and Steve pulled up outside a small, quaint looking house that Marie thought looked vaguely familiar. She couldn't place it.

"Come on." Steve murmured. "This is it."

It was Steve who knocked, and a familiar face answered it.

"Kirsten?"

"Marie?" Kirsten's blonde hair was in a loose, messy braid over one shoulder, and she was wearing high waisted jeans and a t-shirt that hung off one shoulder, too big for her. Marie glanced at Steve, who looked surprised to find Kirsten too. Marie's eyes narrowed. "What are you -"

"Who is It, babe?" That was when the man appeared. Dark skinned, handsome enough, with stubble and black hair cut close to his head. It was the pet name that got her.

"'Babe'?" She raised an eyebrow at Kirsten, who smiled sheepishly.

"Surprise?"

"Look, as...unexpected as this is." Steve ignored the look Marie shot him, the amused snort from Natasha, eyes firmly focused on the man. "We...need a place to lie low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha added. Kirsten glanced at her...boyfriend? Friend? And he sighed.

"Not everyone." And he stood aside, Kirsten following suit and Marie followed Steve and Natasha in.

While those two were utilising the shower, Marie was questioning Kirsten.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were...what, dating?" Marie said and Kirsten looked at the ceiling, avoiding her gaze. "I thought we were friends."

"It's new." Kirsten retorted. "We are friends, Marie, but I...you know the last few." She bit her lip and, oh, Marie remembered the last boyfriend. She had bruised her knuckles breaking the guy's nose when he made Kirsten cry after telling her she wasn't enough because she refused to 'put out', but man had it been worth it. "I don't want...to jinx this. I really like him, Marie."

"I...Alright." Marie sighed. "Where'd you meet him?"

"He helps veterans. You know, after coming back home from wars. You know my brother suffers from PTSD after Afghanistan and I came with him to the first meeting when he was still nervous with the whole...you know." She sighed slightly. "And he was just kind and gentle and answered every question I flung at him without any preamble or disbelief that I had shown up. He asked if I served." The smile that spread across Kirsten's face was one Marie hadn't seen in years. It was soft and fond and ridiculously happy.

"Shit, you're gone on him, aren't you? And I don't even know his name."

"Sam." Kirsten answered, and her gaze moved to the door, watching as Sam headed into the room Natasha and Steve were currently occupying. "His name's Sam Wilson. And I am pretty sure he's the one."

XoooX

"Like hell you're coming!" Kirsten was having a face off with Steve, the latter having actually used the word 'hell'. Kirsten was standing on her toes, as she usually did when in an argument with someone. "You aren't a member of SHIELD!"

"Neither are Sam and Marie and yet -" She swept a hand over to where the two were sat at the kitchen table, Natasha with them and stealing the blueberries off the top of Marie's abandoned pancakes. The current show going on was much more interesting. Sam glanced at her, and winked.

"It's something, isn't it?" He said, and his voice was slightly daydreamy. He was just as gone as Kirsten, and Marie gave her silent approval. She liked this guy.

"I think she could probably deck him." Marie hissed back, as Kirsten's eyes narrowed as she snapped something in return to another reason Steve gave for her not coming along with them to get Sitwell.

"Probably." Sam agreed and Marie would probably have claimed him for herself if she wasn't exclusively into girls.

"You do realise that Rogers is a genetically engineered super soldier, right?" Natasha asked, popping another blueberry into her mouth.

"You do realise that Kirsten has reduced grown men to tears with a few well used words, right?" Marie countered. Natasha shrugged.

"Fair point."

A few minutes later, they were piled in a car, Steve grumbling from the passenger seat and Kirsten sat in the back seat, looking way too smug.

"I can't believe you actually managed to talk him into it." Sam admitted, and Marie could imagine him pressing a kiss to Kirsten's cheek in admiration. Kirsten shot him a smile through the rear view mirror.

"I'm good with words, Love. You should know this." She leaned back slightly in her seat, difficult considering the fact they were in a car. "So, we're breaking into a heavily secure army base, Right?"

"Yes." Natasha confirmed. Kirsten grinned, not a pretty one, but an anticipatory, quite terrifying, one.

"Nice."

XoooX

The whole plan went to hell when the assassin they were after revealed himself as Steve's best friend, Bucky, but brainwashed into a killing machine.

Now they were captured by Hydra, flung into a back of a truck and Marie was not panicking.

Or she wouldn't be if they hadn't gagged her.

It was a crude thing, some fabric knotted at the back of her head and shoved in her mouth so she couldn't speak. Her persuasion gift was well known, and they knew that the second she spoke they would be under her spell. The thing was, the gag brought back painful memories from when she was younger, of boys stuffing her mouth with dirt when they found out what she could do, laughing as she spat out clumps of mud and jeering, telling her to 'tell us what to do now'. Of when she got older, how the first girl she fell in love with was convinced she had used her gift to get a kiss and the girls on the cheerleading squad had ganged up on her, tying a scarf around her mouth and leaving it there, Marie attempting to untie the knot and failing, crying and trying to breathe.

She attempted to take a deep breath, trying to not panic and consequently pass out.

"Hey, look at me." That was Sam's voice, calm and soothing. Marie managed to look at him, sure she looked like a skittish animal. "That's it. Easy, you're fine. You're gonna be fine. Just keep breathing." Marie was briefly reminded Sam helped war veterans who suffered PTSD, who couldn't sleep or hear fireworks or even walk down the street without being taken back to the country they had fought in. She followed his cue, matched her breaths to his own.

"Natasha needs medical attention." Kirsten's voice jolted Marie into action, looking at her blonde friend who was holding a hand against Natasha's shoulder. Her pale fingers were red and Marie briefly recalled that the assassin had been shot. Shit. The two guards acted as though they hadn't heard her and Marie could feel Kirsten's rage boiling. "Didn't you hear me?! If we don't get a doctor in here, she'll bleed out!"

When the guard removed what looked like an electrified stick - some sort of fancy tazer, Marie guessed - Kirsten flinched, only to stare when they attacked the other guard. The helmet was removed and Marie recognised the woman underneath.

She had been there after New York, the one who had tossed clothes in Eli's direction, completely unfazed by his nudity. Marie had decided at that point that she was generally alright - after all, she had helped them and the lack of shock at Eli being...well, Eli, was an added bonus.

"Get that gag off." Hill said, and Sam immediately unknotted it, and Marie scrabbled to get the fabric away from her. "Alright?"

"That thing was disgusting." Marie said. "I'm much better."

"Good." Hill nodded, before looking over to Sam, brows furrowing. "Who's he?"

XoooX

"Back in the truck -"

"If we could avoid talking about my panic attack I would be most grateful." Marie cut off Natasha hastily, voice probably sharper than it had to be. After hearing that Hydra...SHIELD...whatever were planning on killing major influential people Marie was slightly on edge, as anyone would be, and hoped that it wouldn't mean killing old SHIELD allies. She tried to avoid thinking of Eli, at home with his younger siblings and parents and his older sister and her daughter. Of Ronan, wherever he may be in the world, oblivious to the danger he was in, his thoughts with an absentee god.

"It's not a weakness."

"Damn well feels like one." Marie snorted. "I was a child when that shit happened. It shouldn't hurt me, what little kids did, what those girls did, but it does. Which sucks."

"All of us have those memories." Natasha took a seat next to her on the cot Marie had claimed. One night. Just one night before Armageddon, or what surely felt like it. "Things that make us pause. Make us freeze up and panic."

"As if." Marie rolled her eyes. "You are pretty much unflappable, you wouldn't think Steve was a figurehead in a world war. And here I am, freaking out because a gag reminded me of choking on dirt when I was six."

"What happened?"

"I...I told a boy to give me a crayon. He did, even though he wasn't finished with it. He never gave things away like that." Marie stared at the ceiling, avoiding Natasha's look. "He figured it out, and...he and some friends cornered me at break. Shoveled dirt in my mouth so I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe easily. I was crying and managed to spit most of it out. No one did anything. Mutant prejudice plus racism." She shrugged a shoulder. "The cheerleaders were the worst. Thought I loved one, then her squadmates managed to corner me, tie a scarf around my head, blocking my mouth and left me on the fucking football field, crying."

"Kids suck." Natasha leaned slightly against her and Marie laughed, startled to find it real albeit watery.

"I know, right?" She managed, clearing her throat when the words came out choked. "The thing was, I didn't even use my powers the second time. The girl was so deep in the closet she made it up. And I...I just...I let them believe her. Because I am a stupid little girl who always falls in love with the wrong people. The unobtainable. How fucking sad is that?"

"It isn't sad, Marie." Marie blinked at the use of her first name, said so gently. She didn't think that Natasha had ever used her first name before. "And being affected by it doesn't make you weak - it makes you human. That's nothing to be ashamed of." Natasha brushed a strand of red hair behind her ear, and Marie frowned slightly.

"Whatever you've done...you're human to, Roma...Natasha." She stumbled over the name, and didn't expect the sad smile that Natasha gave her at that comment.

"You don't know what I've done. Even before SHIELD -"

"You're trying to fix it, to be better. Other's wouldn't have bothered even trying."

"You are too optimistic."

"Or maybe just enough." Marie countered. "Someone has to be an optimist amongst all these pessimists. The world hasn't ended yet." She shrugged. "Besides, we've already saved it once."

"I can't believe I am saying this, but I wish Sp - Ronan was here." Natasha stumbled over his name. "His luck would be useful right about now."

"Nah. Knowing Ronan, he'd try to adopt the Winter Soldier." Marie found herself smiling in amusement. "He has a habit of doing that."

"Bucky." Natasha said unexpectedly. "His name is Bucky."

"No It's not. That man who tried to kill us? That isn't Steve's friend. I don't think he'll ever be exactly Steve's friend again." Marie tried not to focus on Natasha's eyes boring into the side of her head. "Names...they mark a certain person. Their mannerisms their memories. The Winter Soldier is not Bucky Barnes, and after all this he won't be Bucky Barnes. He might be James. I don't know. It's like how you have more than one name." Natasha startled.

"I -"

"Whatever you have done as Natalia Romanova or Natalie Rushman or whoever doesn't matter. You changed your name, to start afresh, start anew. Sure, you live with what you've done, but you are not that person anymore." Natasha frowned as though in thought.

"That's...one way to look at it...how did you know my real name?" Marie grinned slightly, unable not to.

"You think you're the only person with people? My friend's a technopath - it wasn't that difficult to get past SHIELDs defences. You should fix that really." Marie's grin grew wider when Natasha snorted in amusement.

"I'll look into it." Marie didn't startle when Natasha linked her pinkie finger with Marie's. Not a hand hold, not a kiss, not what Marie wanted to give her, but a sign of affection. "...Thank you."

"Anytime, Tasha. I mean it."

XoooX

"Do you think your persuasion can be used if...amplified?" It was Maria asking this question and Marie frowned in thought.

"Like over an intercom? I...don't know? Maybe?" She moved one hand from side to side, in the universal gesture for 'sort of'. "Depends on how distorted it is, I guess. And the people listening to it and how easy it is to persuade them in turn...you're wanting me to persuade Pierce, aren't you?"

"It seems like the easiest solution." Steve spoke up. Currently, they were going over the plan before actually implementing it, which was all in all a good idea. Natasha was going to infiltrate the actual building via use of disguise, while Steve attempted to reason with those within SHIELD who were not HYDRA. After, he and Sam would deal with Project Insight and any HYDRA members. Kirsten wasn't going to be involved unless her expertise with shields was needed, but her primary goal was going to be shielding the helicopter which was perfectly fine in Marie's one hundred percent honest opinion. Her brother may have been in the armed forces, but Kirsten's words were her main weapon, be it through speech or by posting online. She had ruined people's reputations via social media and honestly, she was terrifying. "Less bloodshed."

"He's a leader." Marie pointed out. "A very influential, very powerful leader. I doubt he has had to follow orders for years, if not ever. If we're lucky we may crack him, but I'm no Ronan. I'm not lucky, Rogers."

"Your power is ridiculously powerful though." Natasha's voice was quiet. "You've managed to change entire personalities with a few words."

"Yeah. Children and people who follow orders for their jobs." Marie retorted. She ran an anxious hand through her hair. "Look, if there's a way to...to check that it worked, without going in and just expecting it to work, I'll try it."

"That's all we need."

Still, the plan ended up as it had originally been planned. Marie's voice worked on the HYDRA grunts, yes, but Pierce was unaffected, as well as one of the more prominent members known as Brock Rumlow. He had apparently tried to kill Sam, only to end up possibly blown up by a helicarrier crashing into the side of headquarters.

The Winter Soldier had saved Steve from death by drowning - actual death this time - and the group had recuperated and gathered together at a graveyard, observing the tombstone that was dedicated to Nick Fury.

Marie was too aware of Kirsten's hand tucked into the crook of Sam's arm, that Natasha had blown all her covers and apparently needed a new one, that Steve already knew what he was going to do next.

"You're going to try and find him, right?" Kirsten was the one who voiced the obvious. Her hand clenched slightly, moving closer to Sam when Steve nodded.

"You don't -"

"Whatever you need." Sam spoke up before Steve could do his selfless 'don't do it for me' routine. "Just tell me when."

"Us." Kirsten corrected, smiling slightly at Steve's stunned look. "Honestly, Rogers. I'm helping you with this - I'm already involved."

"And you?" Sam looked towards Marie and Natasha. The Russian shook her head.

"All my covers are blown - gotta find myself a new one."

"I have some talking to do, speaking of covers. A certain friend of ours will be overjoyed at trying to rebury some of the details splashed all over the web." Marie stated and Kirsten hid a laugh.

"Tara is going to hate you."

"Like she doesn't already?" Marie said. "You guys keep safe with your whole hunting down a master assassin thing. Mind if I walk you home, Natasha?"

"Not home yet." She decided, lips quirking upwards. "I think I'd like to speak to this friend of yours, first."

"Of course." Marie grinned, before saluting Steve. "Until we meet again, Captain Rogers."

"Hopefully not too soon." He said, managing a laugh at Marie's mock offended gasp.

The two groups parted ways, Marie hooking an arm through Natasha's and talking about the friend they were going to meet, Kirsten talking to Sam and Steve about how they were going to start looking for Steve's long lost friend.

Soon the graveyard was quiet once more, all at peace.

XoOoX

Uh...sorry for the wait?

In my defense, this was super hard to write but The Dark World (also known as When The Stars Align) will be coming soon and now I have Tuesday and Friday off work, which means more time for writing. I still need to catch up on the Marvel films that came out after Civil War (I have seen GotG2 but that's it) so that will also be taking up my time. I hope to actually watch Infinity War in the cinema's for my 21st birthday but it's all about time and access and all that shit.

Anyways, I'll catch you all later with our regular Ronan shenanigans soon enough! - Jazz xx


	9. When The Stars Align - I

'I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.' ~ _The Old Astronomer,_ _Sarah Williams_

XoooX

London was...new.

That was all Ronan could really think to say on the subject. New York had been new those months ago, and over time had become familiar but full of memories that he didn't want to dwell upon. He didn't want to think about alien armies and invasions and Asgardians. Didn't want to ponder Loki's fate and wake up, feeling either the cold blade against his throat or feel the slender god in his arms.

He should have known that he would never be lucky enough to escape the issue altogether, even if luck was his power. It never worked like that, especially when it came to Jane Foster.

Jane had been normal, Ronan supposed, even with her fascination with astronomy and astrophysics. Their friendship was an unlikely one, what with her being as clever as she was and Ronan being...well, himself, it was amazing they had even met. It wasn't like he could ever regret meeting Jane and becoming friends with her, he just wished that meeting Jane hadn't resulted in the chaos that was his life nowadays.

The chaos being superheroes, gods, new planets and, apparently, rifts in the space time continuum or something that disturbed the entire laws of physics.

Yeah. This was his life now.

Thing was, Ronan knew that if he had stayed in America, even if he had to beg and plead with his landlord to give him an extension on his rent while he called Tony and asked him to possibly loan him enough to cover it, he wouldn't be standing on the grounds of an abandoned factory with a foreboding feeling in his stomach.

"I don't like this." He muttered to Jane, who seemed oblivious to the aura of 'this is bad' emanating from the place. "I mean, I know that logically we've dealt with worse, but like, if this is alien related -"

"I don't think there'll be another wormhole into space." Darcy pointed out and Ronan wanted to hit her. "Besides you were kick ass that time."

"Correction, everyone else was kick ass. I mean, if you want me to talk someone down from destroying a city, sure, but I can't...kill things."

"Anyone can kill things."

"Well I prefer not to." Ronan retorted. "I'm...is it Lawful Good?"

"You've been watching too many people play Dungeons and Dragons." Jane decided. "I'm sure we won't run into any trouble."

"Unless someone tries to stab us." Ronan mumbled to himself, and was pointedly ignored by the other two as they entered the building.

It was derelict and decrepit, and the hairs on the back of Ronan's neck stood up. He didn't like this, he had such a bad feeling about this place, and it couldn't just be because of the appearance. No, before they'd even stepped near here, he'd been feeling off, twitchy and nervous, though he had no idea why. Alarms were going off in his head - bad thing, bad thing, stay away. He couldn't heed them, though, not when Jane and Darcy could get caught in the mix of bad stuff. So he buried the tiny voice in his mind telling him to stay away, and stuck with them.

He also did not bite his tongue when a group of pigeons took off in flight, nor at the sounds of footsteps. The taste of blood in his mouth was not from biting the side of his cheek hard enough to break the skin.

The footsteps belonged to kids, thankfully, and not thugs who would sooner gut them than show them the anomaly that Jane's equipment had picked up on. They reminded Ronan of himself and Marie as kids, Marie dragging him into all manner of places that kids probably shouldn't be in. It was odd, he supposed, realising the world hadn't changed all that much in a few years.

Jane convinced the kids to show them what they'd 'found' and...well, Ronan was sure that Jane's device had not malfunctioned, because last he checked, trucks did not float about in the air.

"That doesn't look right." Darcy muttered, and Ronan could only nod his agreement. This was either scientifically explainable, or there was something magical going on. He was betting on the magical part, the mythical. Because his luck constantly seemed to swing towards that. Something being able to be explained away by science? If that happened to him, he would think his luck was actually being beneficial to him, and that would be plain weird.

It was the items disappearing and reappearing that truly threw Ronan off, though.

He could see what looked like...ripples in the air when they disappeared, like pushing on a liquid barrier of some sort. It felt wrong in general and his senses were screaming at him not right, not right, not right. Maybe it was because it felt like, if these tiny things could go through, what would prevent something else coming through? Something bigger and more menacing, capable of destroying cities in a matter of minutes?

He clenched his hand into a fist, nails digging into the meat of his hand painfully. Not the time to think about that, not now. There was no wormhole, the tesseract was on Asgard and whatever Loki -

He shook himself mentally. Now was definitely not the time to think of that name, especially when Ronan had blocked that name from his mind. He couldn't wonder about him, not right now, because according to Thor getting to Earth had been hard enough to retrieve his brother, never mind the fact that Ronan doubted Loki would even be allowed back down. He didn't know what happened after Manhattan regarding the trickster, and he honestly didn't want to. It wasn't his business to be concerned about him. Loki could look after himself, and he deserved to face the repercussions for his actions.

Ronan just hoped Thor mentioned the outside forces at play, about what they suspected happened on the other side of the wormhole. Purely for the safety of Asgard and Earth, of course, not because Ronan cared about Loki…

Who was he kidding? No one but himself, apparently.

"I haven't seen readings like this since…" Jane's voice brought Ronan out of his thoughts, and he mentally thanked her. Jane's eyes met his, wide and excited. "Since…"

"New Mexico." Ronan guessed, and Darcy smirked.

"Go on, look around - you know you want to." She elbowed Jane, who attempted a scowl but her obvious eagerness made it impossible.

"Just - don't touch anything!" She ordered, before darting off, Darcy cackling as she left. Ronan shook his head.

"Hey, give me your shoe." Ronan turned to face Darcy, a single eyebrow raised.

"No chance, Lewis. I'm not losing my shoe in another plane of existence. Find a bottle."

XoooX

It took five hours for Jane to reappear and during those five hours Ronan had a panic attack.

Logically, he knew something like New York wouldn't happen again without his knowledge. It had been big and all encompassing, and they would have noticed if a giant wormhole had opened up, but Jane was gone. Vanished, and all Ronan could see was the Iron Man armour flying into the wormhole and the fact that Tony might not have fallen back through. It couldn't happen to Jane, one of his first friends. It couldn't happen to her, she was a scientist, a civilian. Unlike Jane, Tony knew the risks of flying through a portal into space. And the portals here, the ripples in dimensions...they weren't clear.

He couldn't be blamed if, as soon as Jane reappeared, he nearly knocked her over with the force of his hug.

He was all too aware that he was babbling nonsense, about wormholes and space and aliens and how he was terrified, so scared, because he thought this time. This time, someone was going to get pulled into a wormhole and this time they wouldn't come back.

He was vaguely aware of Jane running a hand through his hair. He pulled back from the hug, still feeling fragile, and rested his hands on Jane's upper arms, scared that if he let go she'd disappear again.

"Where were you?"

"I was in the warehouse." Jane said, before her eyes landed on the police. "You called the cops?!"

"Jane -"

"We had unlimited access to a scientific site! They'll call the feds and then SHIELD will be all over this -"

"You were gone for five hours." Darcy cut through her yelling and Jane froze, mouth still open slightly.

"I...what?"

Then it began to rain.

It wasn't natural rain, though, Ronan could tell because the three of them were stood in a circle where no rain fell on them.

Thunder rumbled overhead, no lightning split the almost clear sky, and as one the three turned to look at the pseudo god that had landed on Earth once more.

The first thing Ronan noticed was that he'd grown his hair out, little braids dotted about the long blonde locks, two holding it back from his face.

The second thing Ronan noticed was the worry that was creasing his forehead, until it relaxed at the sight of Jane. Ronan managed to not frown - something to do with her five hour long disappearance? Possibly. No, not possibly - definitely. Of course definitely. If something supernatural had happened, of course it would have something to do with Asgard. Or worse.

Ronan may have felt slightly ill. Worse was not good.

He barely noticed the rain falling on him as Jane walked over to Thor, indignant rage coming off her in waves, barely noticed Darcy's shriek as they both got drenched.

In fact, he felt a bit too numb to notice anything until Jane nearly passed out after blowing a cop back and shattering a few car windows with a red light.

It took him about a second to register that he wasn't seeing things and raced over to Jane, who was already being helped up by Thor. Ronan absently noted that he hadn't been blown back, hadn't even been cut by the flying glass, and maybe he was just…

Nope. He was not going to say that word. That was not a good word to say right now because something was wrong.

"Jane, what -"

"I don't know." Jane was staring at her hands, eyes wide a stunned. "It's not a mutation - it can't be, right? It...It would've shown itself earlier, wouldn't it?" Ronan opened his mouth to confirm her suspicion, but was cut off by a cop.

"Put your hands behind your heads." He looked terrified and Ronan resisted the urge to snort. Weren't these guys supposed to deal with criminals on a daily basis? His eyes landed on the glass, glittering prettily on the ground, yet still harmful, and oh. Yeah, Jane had done that somehow.

"This woman is sick."

"She's dangerous." The officer replied and Ronan may have flinched, although it wasn't directed at him. It was a phrase used too often about mutants, and him being one, though his power didn't manifest as anything physical, it could be argued that he could possibly take luck away. Never mind the fact that he had little to no control over what it did anyway.

"So am I."

"Wrong thing to say." Ronan hissed as the cop began requesting back up. "Can't you use the bifrost? Get her to Asgard because this...there's something telling me this is something to do with...Norse stuff."

"You're coming too." Jane insisted, even as Thor hooked an arm around her waist. "Ro, please, I need you."

Someone normal. Someone from Earth, a grounding force. Ronan got that. Maybe a friend? Maybe. He could never be sure when it came to the emotional stuff. Either way, he nodded and took Jane's outstretched hand, moving closer to the duo.

"Beam us up." He said, and he heard Jane's laugh before they were rushing through realms, and Ronan was really, really uncertain about this.

Yeah. He should've stayed at home.

XoOoX

So. I have had the first chunk of this written for ages, but came to a block close to the end. I meant to finish it like, a week ago, but I went and sprained my wrist so that was put on hold. And then I saw Infinity War and was put on hold again due to intense feels. But yeah, it's finished. Not keen on the end but, whatever.

Anyways, welcome to When The Stars Align and your regular Ronan shenanigans! *cue confetti* I have been looking forward to writing this particular segment of Ronan's arc for months at this point, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed coming up with what the hell is gonna happen.

See you soon! - Jazz xx


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